Battle Network Cybersystem: The Manic Saga
by EvilQuatreX
Summary: Based on Cybersystem. Some time after navis were no longer usable, this is the story of how technology has progressed since then and the story of ages past catching up to them.
1. V1 ch 1: Every Story Begins Somewhere

Well, here's the beginning of Manic's saga on cybersystem. If you haven't checked out the site, I suggest you do, it's pretty sweet.  
  
BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Vol. 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts  
  
Chapter 1: Every Story Begins Somewhere...  
  
Hey Shadow! Look what I found!  
  
I woke up in the middle of the night after hearing a kid's voice ring through my head. It sounded all too familiar a voice, but I didn't know anyone that young who had a voice like that. Also, I had no idea just who this 'Shadow' guy was.  
  
I tried to go back to sleep after a while and found it useless. Screw it, I told myself as I got up from my bed and went to get some water from the kitchen. I had to be careful not to wake up old pops or gram, so I silently glided across the oak-laid floor in the living room, glancing at old pops's medals he got from the Eurasian Marine Corps way back in the day. I only heard the story every other day since I saw those, 'That day I saved most half my platoon from a crisis back in the Netopian War and almost got killed in the process!'  
  
Old pops was a good man, even though his own name stated that he was very old. In fact, they weren't even really related to me by blood. Grams was a chief nurse over at Beach Street back in the day and that's how she met old pops, she told me. She said he went in there claiming that he had some sort of major dislocation when it was just a bruise and that's how they met. They married a few years after that and their kids, Jack and Laura, went off and started their own families by now. I even knew by my looks that I wasn't related to them because old pops was about half a foot shorter than I was, gram was an entire foot shorter than me and they both had jet black hair. Mine was golden blonde and I stood at a fair 6 foot 2 inches.  
  
I made it to the kitchen without making a sound. Here came the tricky part, getting some water without making a lot of sound. I silently grabbed a glass out of the cabinet over the counter and turned on the faucet to get some water. When the glass was halfway full, I turned the faucet off and leaned against the counter, looking out at the patio and sipping on the water.  
  
Marine Harbor. What a place to live. Lights were everywhere, people were still busy getting coffee just before getting home, talking with old friends and the rest. Even ONBA was out on patrol for some reason, probably to find some netbattlers to chat with and waste time.  
  
Another small thing about netbattling nowadays: navis broke free of their PETs already and they're out on the net, chilling and taking it easy. No one really knows how or why they left, but they're out there somewhere. Another thing, people still netbattle, except now, they've found a way to transmit the entire human body into the internet and make it data for a while by use of a small little bracelet they call the Cyberband. It holds small chips called adaptor bits that can either increase your effectiveness on the net or give you different things that can help you out during netbattles. Also, Datasilver have replaced regular battle chips because they've found to be more effective with loading into cyberbands than battle chips and for the fact that they were made to be a lot stronger than the old battle chips. Times have seriously changed, I swear.  
  
After a while of looking at the town from the counter, I finally finished drinking the glass of water. I filled the glass with another half of water and quietly started back to my room. I looked on the coffee table in the living room and saw the same pictures of me with old pops and gram from a few years ago. I wasn't quite as tall as old pops back then as I was now, but what I noticed more was that we were all smiling and happy. I found it pretty amazing that even though they found me six years ago, they still acted like I was part of their family, like I had always been with them.  
  
I went through the living room quietly and back to my room, trying to reawaken my memories, once again in vain. The reason I didn't go back to my old parents was because I honestly didn't remember who they were. They found me that day and I couldn't even remember my own name, let alone anything else about me. So, old pops and gram, what they wanted me to call them, gave me memories. They said they 'found out' my real name and told me it was Manic, but I know it wasn't my name because it didn't really sound familiar at all to me.  
  
I set the now-empty glass on my desk and laid back on my bed again.  
  
Crap, I thought to myself, gotta run those papers by ONBA for Matsu tomorrow...  
  
To help out old pops and gram, I took up side jobs running errands for merchants around Marine Harbor so they wouldn't have to worry about my personal financing. I was fairly set as well with money, I was just about to move into...  
  
I had almost forgotten. I did run those papers by ONBA today and Matsu had paid me already.  
  
I looked through my wallet quickly and found 1,500 zenny extra. I opened up a drawer in my desk and dumped the money into it. The drawer already had a large sum of it, but I knew that this was what made it.  
  
I finally had enough to buy my own apartment in ACDC.  
  
I was so excited at this. Old pops and gram were already trying to make ends meet with their retirement funds, so having me living with them was just a burden to them. I kept a stash of money in hopes of finding a place to call my own and I finally found it. ACDC Apartments, Room 777. I had the place mapped out for the longest time and I finally had enough to buy the apartment. I didn't even have to pay rent after that because it was an apartment that people would rarely talk about. Even the apartment landlord didn't even want to deal with whatever was going on in that apartment.  
  
Ok, I'll admit this, I'm somewhat of a nerd. After Vinnie, the Wildfire Cafe manager, told me that he recognized me when I did a job for him, he told me he knew my parent's last name was Grave. He couldn't remember what my real name was, nor anything else. He said he only dealt with my father from time to time and only on an executive level. He only knew my father as Mr. Grave, so I thought that he was a big shot in the restaurant business. I also found out that Vinnie was older-than-dirt enough to know that my mother was of the Olson clan. I looked for well over half a year for anything on the Olson and Grave clans, but the only thing I found was a very old relic of the Olson family tree. I found out that I had roots in netbattling in the navi era. My grandfather was named Zero Olson, he was supposedly a great netbattler back in the day, but died from reasons unknown. I looked even further for anything about Zero Olson and found some records that he and another person, Apollyon Kassatsujizai, helped put down a strong navi cloning production site that was hellbent on capturing all navis in the world and copying their data so that they could control every navi in the world. It was crazy, but my grandfather put it down.  
  
I also found out that Zero Olson used to live in ACDC Apartments, Room 777.  
  
I double-checked the money in the drawer to see that it really was enough to buy the place and finally laid back down on my bed. I finally reached my goal. Now, I could let old pops and gram live peaceful lives together without worrying about my own welfare. I went to sleep after a while of thinking about this. I would tell them in the morning that I finally had enough.  
  
Morning came soon and I jumped out of bed and dressed quickly. I wore what I usually always wore, baggy black jeans with a white t-shirt under an unbuttoned blue hawaiian shirt. I also wore three necklaces, one gold choker that old pops gave me when I graduated ACDC High, a silver pendant of a flame that I always thought was cool and related to me a lot and the tribal necklace that I was found with. I always wore these everywhere I went. I quickly made my short blonde hair spiky again and went to the kitchen to tell them the good news.  
  
"You finally have enough, huh?" old pops said when I told him and gram at the kitchen table. I could see that he was already proud of me by the smirk on his face. Gram was a bit saddened by this, I could tell. I knew neither of them wanted me to leave, but they and I knew that I needed to make it on my own.  
  
"So, when will you be leaving?" Gram asked me.  
  
"I thought I'd call up the landlord and tell him that I would buy the place soon enough... it depends on when he'll let me move in, that's all..."  
  
"Manic, I can't begin to tell you how proud of you we are," old pops said. This was one of the very rare times that I heard old pops be serious about something. I was happy myself that I gained their respect.  
  
We ate breakfast and I called the landlord over the phone. He sounded all too ecstatic to hear that someone would be buying the place, but he said I had to clean up if anything was messed up in there. No one even went near the apartment since Zero died, supposedly because of superstition or bad luck, but whatever, none of that really bothered me. So I hung up the phone and went to my room to pack up. I managed to fit everything except for my desk, dresser and bed into one of old pops's marine duffel bags. I gathered the money I saved up and put it into a plastic bag and set my things near the front door. I was ready to leave and get my own place.  
  
"Well, I'm off," I said, a bit crestfallen that I would be leaving them. They were so nice to me, no matter what.  
  
"Take care, Manic, and call us if anything happens, ok?" Gram said as I walked out the door. I waved to old pops and gram one last time before the door closed and I walked down the street towards the Marine Harbor metroline train. I was getting my own place that day. I was proud of even myself.  
  
I was finally standing on the sidewalk in front of ACDC Apartments.  
  
I took a deep breath and sighed. "Here goes nothing..." I said to myself as I opened up the door and walked inside.  
  
"Hello? I'm here about the apartment," I yelled in the desolate front lobby. It was fairly small, but it had a reception office and an elevator next to a flight of stairs.  
  
"Yeah, what'cha want?" the landlord yelled out into the lobby from the office. I leaned over to look through the open doorway and saw the landlord there.  
  
"I'm here about apartment 777," I told him.  
  
"Oh yeah, you. You have my money?" I dropped the plastic bag onto the desk and he hungrily opened it up to look.  
  
"It's all there, I checked," I told him.  
  
"Whatever," the guy said angrily as he threw me the key to the apartment. "You know where it is, go."  
  
I pressed the up button on the elevator and waited for it to open up. God, that guy was mean. The elevator doors finally opened up and I went inside with the duffel bag and pressed the number seven. The elevator took it's time getting to the seventh floor, but it finally stopped. I left the elevator and went down the hallway, looking at the door numbers for apartment 777. Some of the lights in the hallway were shattered, so it made the hunt that much harder, but I finally found it near the middle of the hallway and on the right. It had a large metal door that slid to the side. When I was scoping out this apartment, I found out that it was a studio apartment, so it was just one big room with a kitchen section in the corner and a raised level near the back of the room.  
  
I unlocked the door and slid the large door open. I then knew why no one even went near this apartment.  
  
They didn't even bother to clean up the blood stains.  
  
Well, I don't own anything related to Capcom, but I do own Manic Grave(because that's who I am) and all things related to him. Also, please review with comments and/or constructive criticism. I'm a masochist for criticism. ^_^ 


	2. V1 ch 2: The New Netbattler In Town

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Vol. 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts  
  
Chapter 2: The New Netbattler In Town  
  
It's been three weeks since I moved into my new apartment. The apartment already had appliances and furniture in it, albeit they were fairly covered with dust and some pieces of furniture had blood stains on them, but I managed to clean everything up eventually. Now, it looked like nothing had ever happened in there. I didn't really trust the food in there, so I cleared it all out and went out to get new stuff. With some of the food in there, I could have sold some as antiques.  
  
After the first week of actually cleaning up the place, I finally settled down and had everything unpacked and had my speaker system installed around the room. Finally, it was starting to look like my dream place. My own place.  
  
However, after a while, I started to get a bit bored with just setting everything up at my apartment, so I decided that I would go check out the town.  
  
"Hmm..." I wondered to myself aloud, "...might as well see if there's a good restaurant in town..." I picked myself up from laying on the couch and left my apartment.  
  
The fresh air outside felt good on my face after being cooped up in that apartment for a while. I looked around the quaint little town of ACDC. There was a park and some various other places that I had seen just a few months ago, when I graduated from the high school here. It seemed like the town grew since I graduated. I walked down the sidewalk towards the park and found a bench to sit on and admire the town.  
  
Amazingly enough, the town was fairly quiet and peaceful. The old people played chess in the park while the little children went through the playground there. There were a few young couples walking through the park holding hands as well.  
  
I laid my arms on the back of the bench and looked around the town for a while, thinking about what I could do about getting a job. Work for the ONBA? Possibly. Keep running errands? Maybe. Work in the Challenge Hall? No. The Challenge Hall was a place where netbattlers from everywhere could go to do battle with high-ranking netbattlers to offer a challenge. Of course, the prize for winning would be one of the opponent's datasilver and respect among the others, but I didn't want to take part in actually sticking myself there. I didn't even have enough of a rank to actually put up a good fight, much less the datasilver. I resolved that I would work up my netbattling skill and actually be able to take on some of them, but that could wait until later.  
  
Finally, I spotted a small diner off near the metroline station.  
  
"Jackpot," I said to myself as I got up from the bench and walked through the park towards the restaurant. As I was walking, I looked up at the rooftops of the other buildings. They were fairly high up, about four or five stories. ACDC really was turning into a bigger city by the day. I also saw a person standing on the edge of one of the roofs. I watched as I walked as the figure jumped across the fairly large gap between the buildings over and over again.  
  
*Hmm...* I thought to myself, *seems like he's having fun...*  
  
I looked back to the park trail towards the exit and kept walking, putting my hands in my jean pockets. I then noticed someone walk past me. He looked normal and all, a bit shorter than I was, but he had a green stripe running under his hair. He walked past as I turned and looked at him.  
  
*Nice hair...* I thought to myself as I turned around again, this time to see a girl with brown hair walking by with a broken PET. I turned my head to look at the pet briefly, then went back to walking forward. Many other people there, one pretty tall guy doing tricks with a yo-yo, a guy playing the guitar, another reading a book on a bench, et cetera. I was now nearing the archway that showed the exit out of the park when I heard some playful bickering around the corner. I didn't really pay any attention to it, but I caught the last part of it.  
  
"Yeah, well Dad wanted me to have this money to pick him up some stuff for work!"  
  
"Come on, Joseph! I wanna get a new adaptor bit!"  
  
"Na-uh! Dad's money, Dad's stuff!"  
  
"Not until I get it!" I noticed one was a guy and one was a girl. I was about to push it out of my thoughts until...  
  
*WHAM*  
  
My head snapped to the side as the girl mistakenly missed the money in the guy's hand and hit me in the cheek. I winced a bit as my hands were still in my pockets and slowly turned my head back to where it was.  
  
"I'm so sorry! Are you ok!?" the girl asked me. I rubbed my cheek with my right hand.  
  
"Good hook there," I said, still rubbing my cheek. I looked over to see who they were. The guy had blonde, messy hair with a green jacket on while the girl had long flowing brown hair and was a bit shorter than the guy. The guy tried to apologize to me my scolding the girl.  
  
"It's ok, really," I said.  
  
"You sure? That was some hit," the guy responded.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"Sorry about that. My name's Joseph, this is my sister Shinzuka."  
  
"Hi." Shinzuka squeaked out, still blushing that she hit me. She was kinda cute like that.  
  
"Nice to meet you two, I'm Manic," I responded. We talked for a bit, getting to know each other for a while. They told me how they lived there for the most part of their lives while I told them I just moved into town.  
  
"Oh, you'll love it here," Joseph said, responding to my statement about moving here, "it's kinda small, but it's a good place to live."  
  
"Yeah, I love it here too!" Shinzuka added in. "The park, especially."  
  
"Yeah, and the mall, too," Joseph teased. Shinzuka gave him a slug to the arm, then turned her attention quickly back to me.  
  
"So, where ya headed, Manic?" Shinzuka asked me innocently. I smiled a bit at her straight-forwardness.  
  
"I was actually off to get some lunch," I said as I pointed at the diner.  
  
"That's grea--" Shinzuka was about to finish her sentence until Joseph covered her mouth.  
  
"Er, we have to run an errand for our dad, so we gotta get going," Joseph said in place of Shinzuka, "well, hope we run into you again some time!" Joseph then grabbed Shinzuka's arm and ran towards the metroline station as Shinzuka looked back at me.  
  
*Friendly bunch, I guess,* I thought to myself as I continued walking towards the diner. I opened the door and was greeted with sounds of a normal diner in Marine Harbor. Silverware clanking with plates, people talking about sports, waitresses taking orders from tables, chefs cooking constantly and finally the ring of a bell when an order was up. *This is heaven again,* I thought to myself as I asked a waitress for a booth near a window. She quickly found one for me and I sat down and asked for some water.  
  
I stared out the window for a bit until the waitress came back with the menu.  
  
"What'll ya have, sweetie?" she asked kindly, waiting for my order.  
  
"Hmm... what's the house special?" I asked.  
  
"Oh my, dear, you aren't from around here, are ya?" the waitress said. "Well, my friend Agnes wasn't from around here, too, ya know, and I always tell her 'Agnes, don't order the house special here, you'll end up with cramps for the rest of your life!'" the waitress laughed at her own joke while I quickly looked through the menu for something else. I finally decided on a simple cheeseburger and she went off to the kitchen.  
  
"Phew..." I said silently to myself as I took a sip of water and looked out the window again. It really was a nice town, those two didn't lie about that. I could get used to this place, actually.  
  
"Hey, what's up!" someone said as I felt a hand hit my shoulder lightly. The same tall person I saw in the park with the yo-yo came and sat down in the booth seat opposite me. He looked at me for a second, then cocked his head sideways. "Hey, you're not Enkou..."  
  
"Who?" I asked him. He shook his head.  
  
"Ah, nevermind. So, how are you?"  
  
"Good," I responded lightly, not knowing who this person was.  
  
"Oh, I'm Gregorio," Gregorio said as he extended his hand to shake mine. I returned the shake and he continued to talk. "You can call me GC, though. So, you new in this town?"  
  
"Yeah, got here a few weeks ago..." I responded. "I'm Manic."  
  
"Hey Manic," GC responded as he looked around. The same waitress came and GC ordered something and we talked for a bit more, eating our food. He wasn't from ACDC either, he told me, but he had been here longer than I had. I told him that I preferred using my own element against the opponent in netbattles while he preferred using poisoning tactics and using his favorite weapon and choice weapon of his past homeland, the yo-yo.  
  
Another thing about netbattling is that everyone is unique in their inherent element. No one can really choose their own element, it's like a trait given at birth, more or less. There were six elements that people could have to use to their advantage or not: fire, water, earth, wind, holy and dark. My element was fire, which was another symbol for my flame pendant necklace.  
  
After a while, we finished lunch and talked for a bit more about netbattling.  
  
"Oh crap," GC said, looking at his watch, "I gotta go, I'll catch ya later, Manic!" GC then got up from the booth after throwing some money onto the table and walked out the door. I watched him walk towards the metroline through the window, then decided that it was about time that I left as well. I paid my end of the bill and walked out of the diner. Not bad food, either.  
  
I wandered around the town for a bit and noticed that the girl with the broken PET and the green-haired guy from in the park were walking down the sidewalk and talking as well. They both seemed to be formal as I walked past them, but they seemed to be friends nonetheless. In this town, it seemed like everyone here was a friend of another. I liked that idea about a town, being able to know the person walking down the street in a heartbeat and saying hi to them for no real reason at all.  
  
After some walking around the town, the sun was starting to set into the horizon. I decided that it was about time to head back to the apartment right now, so I could get finally get some sleep. As I walked through the front doors into the lobby, the landlord's door was wide open, the television blaring with the news.  
  
-In other news, there has been a chain of burglaries across all of Electopia this week. Not many things were stolen from houses except for at most some datasilver and adaptor bits from household netbattlers, but everyone please exercise caution because of this.-  
  
I didn't really think anything of it as I walked towards the elevator and pressed the up button. The doors slid open and I walked inside and was about to push button seven until I heard someone shout at me.  
  
"Hey! Hold that door!" I held the elevator doors open as the same man from the rooftops jogged into the elevator.  
  
"Which floor?" I asked him. He had silver hair kinda like Joseph's, but it was longer with long bangs going off to the side.  
  
"Floor seven, please," he responded. I found it a bit odd, but pushed the number seven anyways. He was dressed up in a kendo uniform, oddly enough, but I didn't really think anything of it.  
  
"You move into town recently, too?" he asked me as the elevator kept rising towards the seventh floor.  
  
"Yeah, I did... I'm Manic," I said to him as he and I shook hands.  
  
"Kinzoku. Kinzoku Souten Hyoukai," Kinzoku responded with a smile.  
  
"Heh, Manic Grave," I said with a smile back. The elevator stopped and its doors opened up. We both walked through the hall, talking about pretty random things, until I reached my apartment.  
  
"Well, this is my stop," I said to him as we were in front of my apartment door.  
  
"Funny... this is my stop," he responded as he pointed his thumb over to the door on the left. I looked at the door number, 778.  
  
"Small world, huh?" I joked. We both laughed a bit and opened up our apartment doors just in time to see that both our apartments were ransacked. I was speechless and angered. I could tell, so was Kinzoku.  
  
Vol. 1 Chapter 2 done! Review, please! 


	3. V1 ch 3: The Hunt

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Vol. 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts  
  
Chapter 3: The Hunt  
  
Kinzoku and I looked at each other to see if both our apartments were mangled as well, and they were.  
  
"Who did this?" I asked, not expecting an answer. I was angry now, angry that someone had broken into my own apartment to steal some lowly datasilver. I could see that Kinzoku wanted to let out some vengeance on whoever did this as well.  
  
"We should go down and see if anyone knows anything about this," Kinzoku said as he and I paced back towards the elevator quickly. I pushed the ground floor button and the elevator came to life, taking us downward. As the elevator ran, I wondered what someone would want with some mere datasilver. Most of them were easy-to-get ones, too. I didn't even bother to check about which ones they stole, but my apartment had told me that it didn't matter what was stolen so long as the person who did it would pay.  
  
The elevator stopped finally on the ground floor. It was now night outside as Kinzoku and I ran outside to be greeted with a sight of people outside asking questions to each other everywhere. That once peaceful city was now turned upside down in panic. Even ONBA officials were there to check out what happened.  
  
"Come on," I quickly said to Kinzoku as I ran towards the group of officials near the metroline. We both made it there within a couple of minutes and listened in on their conversation with a theft victim.  
  
"Ma'am don't worry, we'll find out who broke into your house..." Anyone could tell that the ONBA was baffled about this as well. There was no possible way that one person could have done this alone.  
  
Then, out of complete coincidence, I saw someone jumping out a window from the corner of my eye. I turned my head to get a better view of the person and he started running down the street.  
  
"Hey, over there!" I said as I ran towards the supposed theif. Kinzoku saw him too and ran after him as well. It was pretty obvious that he was one of the thieves who robbed the town, judging from the bag he had with him and his black dresswear. We almost caught up to him, too, until he put on his cyberband and vanished from our sight.  
  
"Crap," I said under my breath as Kinzoku and I skid to a halt.  
  
"He's probably heading towards the metroline station," Kinzoku said, "that's the only fast way in and out of this town. Let's go!" Kinzoku then started to run back to the station as I ran as well.  
  
We made it just to see the burglar come back into the real world after taking off his cyberband and run into the station. By now, more people were following Kinzoku and me as we ran after the theif. We quickly ran down the steps into the station just in time to see the theif wave at us from inside the metroline car. I glanced at the sign on the car, 'Marine Harbor, Car 6'. The rest of us waited for the next car, which luckily came fairly shortly. We piled in and waited for the car to arrive in Marine Harbor, expecting the ONBA officials already in the car to contact other officials in Marine Harbor to pursue the burglar.  
  
I looked next to me and saw the kid with the green stripe of hair waiting for the car to stop at the Marine Harbor station as well.  
  
"You know what he stole from you?" I asked him, trying to make some small talk before we started up the chase again.  
  
"No, I just know that he stole from me," he said while staring at the door. Kinzoku was standing to my left and was just as intent on catching the burglar as I was.  
  
"Name's Manic," I told the kid with green hair.  
  
"Hi. I'm Ryuu, Seitamashii Ryuu."  
  
"Kinzoku," Kinzoku said in response as well as we both briefly shook hands with Ryuu. Finally the train stopped and we all piled out and up the stairs out of the metroline station.  
  
I stopped at the top of the stairs to look around for a crowd running after someone. Finally, I found one that the rest of the crowd ran after. I watched where they were going and ran the other way, Kinzoku and Ryuu following me.  
  
"Where are we going?" Kinzoku asked as he ran behind me.  
  
"I know these alleyways, we'll catch up to him before the crowd does," I responded.  
  
"He might jack into the cyberworld before we catch him, though," Ryuu added in as well.  
  
I grinned a bit. "Then we'll just chase him there too," I responded as I quickened my pace through the alleyways. I knew the alleyways easily, having to run errands quickly in the past years and using them as a quick route through the city.  
  
Suddenly, we turned a corner and saw the theif running towards us, shocked by us.  
  
"Stop!" I yelled as we sprinted towards the theif. Ryuu's assumption came true as the theif went into the cyberworld before our eyes. I skid to a halt while Kinzoku and Ryuu did the same.  
  
"Ok, let's follow him," Kinzoku said as we all took out our cyberbands and put them on. Instantly, we were all in the cyberworld version of Marine Harbor. The area there seemed almost the same, except that the sky was laced with wiring and the buildings surged with electrical power and data. My cyberform kept the same appearance as my real life form, but Kinzoku and Ryuu looked much different. Kinzoku had a black form-fitting tank-top with his kendo uniform keigoki, the wide-legged pants, and black arm-sleeves while Ryuu had a light green armor on with a cybernetic eyeguard in front of his eyes.  
  
We saw the thief run in the opposite way and take a right. We followed him quickly, all of us used to our cyberforms well enough to be in total control of them. By now, the three of us were panting as we ran after the criminal, but we weren't going to let him get away.  
  
Finally, we were running after him in an open area.  
  
"Ok, Kinzoku, Ryuu, run ahead to corner him," I told the two. They briefly nodded their acknowledgements and ran ahead of me to block the theif's routes of escape. The theif hesitated for a brief moment when he found that he was cornered, which was when I made my move and tackled him to the ground as he turned towards me. I rolled off him with the bag of the stolen things in my hand and threw them to the side.  
  
"No..." the theif said as he saw that his bag was gone, "no... you!" He got up from the ground quickly and glared at the three of us.  
  
"Why did you steal those?" Ryuu barked at him as we closed in. He was getting nervous, but he kept his ground.  
  
"None of your business!" the theif barked back at us. We weren't phased at his ferocity as we kept moving towards him. By now, a few ONBA officials were now in the internet, but they kept their distance from us, seeing that a fight could happen soon.  
  
"You stole from us, you made it our business!" Kinzoku yelled at the thief. After Kinzoku's statement, the burglar snapped and ran towards us with a large broad sword of fire drawn.  
  
*My fire sword!* I thought as I ducked under his swing while Ryuu and Kinzoku jumped to the side. I was now even angrier that he decided to use my own weapon against me.  
  
I activated a datasilver of my own, which covered my fist in a plate of iron, the big punch datasilver. I thrust my fist into the theif's stomach, making him step back and grip his abdomen in pain.  
  
"I have a few tricks of my own," I said to him as I uploaded another datasilver to myself. I could feel energy growing inside the palm of my hand as the datasilver I uploaded through my cyberband started to activate. I aimed my palm at the theif, who looked up at me.  
  
"Next time, don't mess with netbattlers," I said to the theif as I was about to shoot a cannon blast at him. However, I wasn't quick enough as the theif tackled into me and sent me to the ground.  
  
The theif laughed maniacally. "Try this one out!" His entire body became doused in flame as the datasilver he uploaded activated and took effect. I could feel my body burning up from the scorching flames, but a purplish blur dove into the theif and sent him off me. I could see the burns on myself from yet another datasilver the theif stole from me as Kinzoku had rolled away from the burning theif. The burglar got up from the ground as Kinzoku and Ryuu let loose with their own attacks, Kinzoku's a sword doused with bright light and Ryuu's own sword that seemed to be made completely from water. Both swords cut through the theif, sending him to the ground, as Ryuu finished off the theif with a cannon blast that I couldn't shoot at him.  
  
The theif's cyberband had reached its limit of abuse and logged him out of the cybersystem. Kinzoku and Ryuu walked over to me and picked me up from the ground.  
  
"You ok?" Kinzoku asked me while he helped me up.  
  
"I'll live..." I responded weakly. We then took off our cyberbands to see the theif being handcuffed by the officials and the bag of datasilver in another official's hands. We looked at the crowd around us and saw that they were all relieved the theif was brought to justice. The official with the bag of datasilver started passing out the stolen datasilver to their rightful owners. I got my fire sword and body burner special datasilver back while Kinzoku got his dark sword datasilver and Ryuu got his armor adaptor bit.  
  
"Well, another day saved," I said jokingly as I turned to Ryuu and Kinzoku, who were smiling that we had basically saved the day for everyone. We watched the theif being dragged to the ONBA headquarters and the crowd's response of cheering when he was being taken there. The theif struggled constantly as they dragged him down the sidewalk.  
  
"Hmm... all that fighting made me hungry," I said as Ryuu and Kinzoku nodded in agreement with me.  
  
"What say we get something to eat?" Kinzoku responded as Ryuu and I nodded in compliance. We started to walk towards the Wildfire Cafe until I heard the theif yell at us.  
  
"He knows who you are, Grave! He knows who you are!"  
  
I turned my head to watch the theif being dragged down the sidewalk, still struggling.  
  
"What do you suppose he meant?" Ryuu asked. It didn't make much sense to me either, so I shrugged and we continued walking towards the cafe.  
  
Dinner there was pretty nice, the three of us talked about random things all through our meals, laughing a lot at each other's humorous stories and such. I still couldn't believe that I made that many friends in ACDC in such a short period of time, but now I had two new friends who fought alongside me. I was happy about that.  
  
We stepped out of the metroline station in ACDC and parted ways with Ryuu. He had inherited his own house from his family a while ago and lived by himself, so Kin and I went back to the apartments for the night and talked about the fight earlier that night.  
  
"Why do you think he stole all those datasilver?" Kin asked me as the elevator began to rise towards the seventh floor.  
  
"I don't really know..." I responded, looking at the elevator ceiling. "Maybe he just wanted something to do?"  
  
Kin shrugged. "You never know, he could have been so bored he felt like going on a stealing run..." The elevator doors opened up and we walked down the hall to our apartments.  
  
"Well, g'night, Kin," I said.  
  
"Night, Manic," Kin responded as we both went into our apartments.  
  
I closed the door behind me and leaned against it to observe my wrecked apartment.  
  
"This is going to be a long night..."  
  
Chapter 3 up! You think it's finished... but you're wrong! Please review with good things or constructive criticism, thank you ^_^ 


	4. V1 ch 4: Protecting Society the Lawful W...

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Vol. 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts  
  
Chapter 4: Protecting Society the Lawful Way  
  
It's been a week since the entire theft incident now and there have been some rumors about a secret society wanting to take over the internet as a source of controlling global and economic society, but no one really gave it a second thought. It was peaceful enough here in our corner of the world and we were happy. I was sitting in my apartment listening to music that peaceful Saturday morning on my couch. I had just finished yet another challenger battle in the Challenge Hall that day and I was feeling good about it. I had moved up in the Hall so that I was now able to take on intermediate challengers. I heard a knock at my door.  
  
"It's open," I said out loud. Kinzoku and Joseph walked in, back from their own challenger battles.  
  
"Hey, how'd they go?" I asked as I picked myself up from the couch.  
  
"Not bad," Kinzoku said, "I earned a new saint blade, what about you?"  
  
"I finished off the lower-levelled challengers there, so I got to move up in rank," I replied.  
  
"Hey, congratulations," Joseph said. His head was obviously in the clouds.  
  
"Something wrong, Joseph?" I asked. Kin went over to the refrigerator to grab a few cans of soda. We all had become good friends quickly, so I didn't mind so long as he got one for me.  
  
"Well... I met someone at the Hall today..." Joseph replied, blushing a bit.  
  
"Joseph's in love!" Kin joked with a smile. Joseph stammered at this, but then nodded to it.  
  
"Hey, good work Joseph," I said as I went over to the counter and caught the can of soda Kin threw at me. We talked with Joseph for a while about his new love interest. He said her name was Honeychile, she was about a year older than Joseph, but he didn't really mind because he said they had so much in common. After a short while of listening to Joseph talk about Honeychile and how they met, an announcement came over the radio in my apartment.  
  
--Do you want to make a difference in your neighborhood? Do you want to have a good start for your future? Many people have already tested out to become Official NetBattlers in the Official NetBattler's Association and you can now test too! The ONBA is now accepting applications for ONBA Official testing, we accept everyone who is willing to take our test! Come join today!--  
  
The three of us listened to that announcement over the radio and paused for a second.  
  
"Hmm... Official testing... want to try it out?" I offered to Kin and Joseph.  
  
"Sure, wouldn't hurt," Kin said in agreement with me.  
  
"Nah, I can't," Joseph responded, "I'm already a leader in the Iron-Fisted Few, plus I don't want to work where my dad works..." Joseph shrugged, " I don't know, I guess it'd be too awkward..."  
  
Kin and I nodded in agreement. The Iron-Fisted Few was a Net Hunter's Guild who took on jobs for all kinds of people. Mostly, their morals guided them towards better jobs, but every once in a while one of them would take a fairly immoral job just for the money. Joseph was one of the head leaders in the clan and I knew that he wouldn't want to throw all that away.  
  
"Hey, maybe Ryuu would like to join us," Kin suggested to me.  
  
"Yeah, that's true... well, we better get going then, before the line gets too long..." I finished off my soda and we walked out the apartment door towards the elevator.  
  
A few minutes later, Kinzoku, Ryuu and I were standing outside the Official NetBattlers Association headquarters in Marine Harbor. Inside, there were plenty of people inside waiting to be tested, but more and more people came out with saddened faces.  
  
"Wow, guess the test must be hard," I mentioned as I saw another person walk out the doors and kick a trashcan nearby.  
  
"We might as well try," Ryuu said. We then went inside and filled out applications. Even the applications for testing were painful, asking for exact measurements of your build and your cyberform online, along with your entire collection of datasilver and your current adaptor bits. They even asked for which skills you were proficient in. After a half hour of just filling in the application, I stepped in line just after Ryuu. Kinzoku followed me a minute later. The line had to have at least twenty people in it, but they went by quickly. ONBA had several testing arena rooms for such an occassion, so testing for the others fairly quickly. Finally, Ryuu made it to the front of the line within minutes.  
  
"Mr. Ryuu Seitamashii," the Official managing the line said.  
  
"Yes?" Ryuu responded.  
  
"You're testing in arena eight, it's down that hallway on your left," the Official said as he handed Ryuu a card and he walked down the hallway.  
  
"Wish me luck," Ryuu said to Kin and me.  
  
"You'll do fine, kid," I said.  
  
"Don't worry!" Kin yelled to him. The door closed behind Ryuu and I waited for my turn now.  
  
"Mr. Manic Grave," the Official finally said after seeing a fairly big person walk out of one of the rooms. I saw the Official give a double-take to the door that the person just stepped out of.  
  
"I'm here," I responded to him. He looked back to me slowly.  
  
"Well... there's your door, number 4..." the Official looked like he turned a shade whiter.  
  
"Anything wrong?" I asked him briefly.  
  
"Well... all I can say now is good luck fighting him..." The Official was a bit scared now. This did not look good for me. I swallowed up my doubts and walked towards the door. I could hear Kin asking the Official about why he was scared and I overheard the word 'vicious'.  
  
I walked into the room and closed the door behind me. I was in a pure white room with a speaker on the wall.  
  
--Mr. Grave, please enter the cybersystem.--  
  
I complied with the announcement and put on my cyberband. In an instant, I found myself in a spacious arena facing a person clad in knightly armor and holding a very long sword.  
  
"Your test is to defeat me, Mr. Grave," the knight said. "Don't you dare hold back against me or I'll kill you..." I nodded with a serious look on my face as I prepared myself for the fight.  
  
Suddenly, the knight made his move. "Dark Mist!" he yelled as the arena suddenly became filled with a dark fog. I could barely see my hand in front of my face through it.  
  
"Damn," I said to myself as I cautiously walked forward, ready to defend myself. I uploaded a fire sword and a big punch datasilver as I walked blindly through the mist. Then, to my left, I heard the sounds of footsteps. Suddenly, they stopped.  
  
"Haa!" the knight yelled as he jumped quickly towards me, bringing his sword down at me. I quickly put up my fire sword to defend against it and pushed him back. I ran towards him and cut horizontally at him, which he parried again. We kept parrying each other's attacks for a few minutes until my Fire Sword datasilver expired, just before the knight swung at me again. I braced myself as I felt the sword cut at my arm and sent me into a wall. I winced in pain as I picked myself up and ran towards the knight again. I activated my big punch datasilver, causing my fist to be coated with metal, and swung at the knight's head. The punch hit him, but he countered against me with an elbow to my stomach. When I was phased, he smacked me across the face with the hilt of his sword, which sent me to the ground. I quickly picked myself up and ran back from him.  
  
"Had enough yet?" he yelled at me as he advanced. I uploaded my body burner special datasilver and waited until he was closer to me.  
  
"Never," I said back as I rushed into him and activated the datasilver, causing both of us to be scorched in flames. Once his back hit the ground, I rolled off him and backed up while I uploaded two cannon datasilver.  
  
"Ah, you present some worthy attacks for me," the knight said as he got up from the ground and ran towards me. I managed to shoot one cannon blast at him before he hit me again with his sword, sending me to the side again. I rolled across the ground, feeling weary against his attacks. I managed to gather up my strength to pick myself up from the ground just in time to see him shoot a large cannon blast of water at me. I barely ducked under it out of fear that I may be hit with it and ran towards him again. I activated another big punch datasilver and went into slide towards his legs to trip the knight. My plan succeeded that he was falling towards me, so I threw the punch at his head again as I slid past him. I got up from the ground and backed up, still hurting from his previous attacks. However, he also got back up with his sword.  
  
"You've done well against me," he said, rubbing his chin, "but I haven't even begun to fight... Deathmatch Again!" Suddenly, the ground everywhere around us fell into a void, leaving two areas for only the knight and me to stand on.  
  
*Not good,* I thought to myself. I didn't have anything to do against this, but neither did he.  
  
I thought wrong. The knight's feet managed to lift him up from the ground, allowing him to float in midair. He slowly walked towards me and aimed a large cannon at me.  
  
I was shocked. How did he manage to get a hold of a kaiser cannon? The kaiser cannon was one of the most powerful cannons in existance and now I was facing down the barrel of one. I was dead for sure.  
  
"Say goodnight," the knight said as he was about to fire. I then acted on instinct and jumped backwards. The shot sailed through the air as I fell into the void. Darkness surrounded me everywhere, but at least I wouldn't be hit by that cannon.  
  
However, my right hand grabbed hold of the panel I was standing on. I unknowingly saved myself. I took this time to upload another body burner special, which would finish him off for sure, and uploaded a recovery datasilver, increasing the amount of damage my cyberband could withstand before logging me out, and picked myself up from the void.  
  
"Huh? You're still here!?" The knight was shocked as I jumped towards him from the panel and grabbed onto one of his feet. I then activated the datasilver and sent him into flames, logging him out of the cybersystem. I soon fell into the void, however. My cyberband logged me out before I hit the bottom.  
  
I opened my eyes and was met with an old man standing in the same white room as I was. He was holding a sheet and was reading it. He stopped reading when he realized I was back.  
  
"Mr. Grave, you had a few tricks up your sleeve that I didn't think you would use," the old man said to me, "You pass, you're an official now. Congratulations." The old man handed me the sheet, which was my application, and an ID card that showed that I was now an Official.  
  
I walked out of the room and saw both Kin and Ryuu standing in the lobby. I must have taken more time to deal with the old man than I thought, so I walked up to them.  
  
"Sorry I'm late," I said.  
  
"What took you? Viruses don't take that long to bust," Kin said to me. I was a bit shocked at hearing this.  
  
"Viruses?" I asked him.  
  
"Yeah, that was the testing," Ryuu said to me as he and Kin showed me their ID cards as well. They were Officials as well. I grinned a bit after hearing that I had the hardest test out of all of them and we walked out of the ONBA.  
  
For some reason, when we were eating lunch after the testing, that dream I had when I was still living with old pops and gram came back to me. I wondered who that 'Shadow' person was, and whose voice said it. I couldn't think of it, but I knew that I heard them before. *Oh well* I told myself as we headed out the door after finishing lunch. I would find out some day.  
  
Chapter 4 complete! Don't know when I'll get the others done, but I'll try to finish them ASAP. Review, please? ^_^ thanks! 


	5. V1 ch 5: The Second Incident

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Vol. 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts  
  
Chapter 5: The Second Incident  
  
I woke up with a start in the middle of the night. I had that same dream again.

I found it no use at all to try to get back to sleep, so I went to get something hot to drink. I made some cocoa and looked out my single-pane window down at the city. It wasn't as bright as Marine Harbor was at night, but it was still quite a sight. The park was well-lit due to the lamp posts and every now and then there were some passers-by who would walk the sidewalks towards either the park or the metroline. It was beautiful.

I finished the cup of cocoa and laid back on the couch. The weather had changed drastically over the past week. At first, you had to go outside wearing only a t-shirt to actually try to stay cool, then it went so that you needed at least three long-sleeved shirts just to stay warm. The weather was weird like that, anyways.

I still couldn't go back to sleep, so I went to do some push-ups as something to do. Regular ones were a bit easy, so I put my ankles up on a chair and did push-ups that way. I didn't keep track of how many I did, I just wanted to tire myself out so I would sleep better. Finally, in a cold sweat by then, I felt tired, so I stopped the push-ups and went to bed, still trying to think of what that dream meant and why it kept reoccurring. I was starting to get tired of it.

Morning came to wake me up around ten in the morning, so I got up and choked down some dry cereal quickly so I could leave and get to the Challenge Hall for some fighting for the weekend. Kinzoku had some things to take care of at ONBA and I didn't know where Ryuu was, so I decided I'd take a walk through the town before I went to the Challenge Hall. *Maybe I'll see Joseph or GC again,* I thought to myself as I pushed the ground floor button on the elevator. I hadn't seen either of them for a while, although I had only met GC and it had only been a week since I'd seen Joseph. *Oh well, I'll see them when I see them, I guess...* I thought to myself again as I yawned and stepped out of the elevator doors. I thought I'd try to make this a good day, so I said hi to the person who walked into the apartment lobby as I just left and walked down the sidewalk towards the Challenge Hall.

It didn't take me long to arrive there on foot, but I was still a bit tired from waking up, so I walked in, hoping this would be a good wake-up call for me.

"Hey, Manic, you decided on who you'd face today?" Nell asked me. Nell was the receptionist at the Challenge Hall. Nice lady, she had been a challenger herself back in the day of the Navi Era, but she figured that age got the best of her and now she worked as the receptionist, earning a well-paid salary.

"Who's still left on the Rogue list?" I asked her. The Rogues were some of the toughest challengers to date. They all specialized in one area of combat, there being six of them. Five had their own specializations, but their leader, Hawk, combined all of theirs into his own. He was the baddest of the bad. Duran was the swordsman of the group, he would only use swords in combat and nothing else. No one matched his skill. Kevin was a lot like Duran, except he didn't use swords or guns at all. He used his fists and fighting techniques to defeat his opponents one by one. He was ferocious.

Carlie was the shield of the group, seeing as how she preferred defense over offense. However, if the going went tough, then she would resort to actually dishing out a few attacks herself. Angela was a fire user, just like me. She loved using her own element against her opponent, and she did, and she would even resort to low tactics on guys such as hitting on them before the fight began. Riesz was Hawk's fiancee and the second toughest of them. Her cyberform had wings installed into them, so she could fly everywhere and anywhere to get her opponent off guard.

"Hmm..." I said to myself as I chose from the list. I had beaten Duran yesterday with my burner special as a final resort from one of his deadliest attacks, so I wouldn't be able to face him until tomorrow. Carlie seemed too easy for me, as did Angela. "I think I'll take Kevin on today," I told Nell.

"Ok, I'll tell him you're waiting then," Nell said with a smile. She really loved her job because she had a personal camera installed in the arenas so she could watch the fighting from her desk. Even though age kept her from fighting, she still had the heart of a netbattler.

I walked into the arena and put on my cyberband. There stood Kevin, ready to tear me apart.

"Peh, ONBA..." Kevin merely said.

"Yeah, not looking too bad yourself there, Kev," I said with a smirk. I had to play as fierce as he would if I wanted to win this one. 

*Begin!* the intercom blared as both Kevin and I ran for each other. Both Kevin's fists became covered in iron as mine did the same. Then, as he ran towards me, I remembered a little trick I picked up from Angela. While I ran towards Kevin, I snapped my fingers and another datasilver of mine activated. The entire arena floor became magma. Kevin's element wasn't fire, so he couldn't take the heat and he would be worn down eventually. As we ran towards each other, we exchanged blows, each of us taking the same number of hits as the other. However, Kevin had a lucky hit and I was sent to the ground and on my knees.

"Think you can still beat me with this lava around!?" Kevin yelled as he jumped onto my back to keep his feet away from the magma. He showed no mercy to me as he pummelled my back with more blows, each one increasing my pain even more. Finally, after a few more hits, I didn't take any more and threw Kevin off my back and got up from the magma. He was now crouched down and waiting to see an opening in my attack. I could also see that he was starting to wear down from the magma around.

Finally, Kevin rushed at me.

*That's it,* I thought. I uploaded my fire sword and waited until he would jump at me. As I predicted, he jumped straight towards me. I quickly put the sword up in front of me horizontally and jumped backwards into a roll. Once Kevin was on top of the blade, I kicked him off me and back into the lava, forcing Kevin's cyberband to log him out of the internet.

I did the same after a while of panting and went back to the desk.

"Well," I asked Nell, "What did you think?"

"Very good fight," Nell said with a smile. She then put a paper in front of me to sign, along with a datasilver on the counter.

"Here're your rewards," Nell said to me. The datasilver was Kevin's Impact Punch. It almost doubled my big punch datasilver's attack. A few more of these and I'd be set. I thanked Nell for my rewards and walked out into the afternoon sun. I had to let my cyberband recharge for a while, so I thought about taking a nap in the park. *Why not,* I thought to myself as I walked to the park. I found a shady place in the grass under a tree to lay down and I almost immediately fell asleep. The warmth of the sun felt good on my skin as I lay there.

For some reason, I had that dream again. Except this time, I could barely make out an image. It was fuzzy, but I could tell that it was daylight and outside. There was a person covered in shadows in front of me, and much taller than I was.

T'hen, the scene changed. I was running towards a house. I could feel that I was happy about something, but coming closer to that door only made me feel worse. Behind that door was something I didn't know about, but I already knew that my heart would be shattered if I opened it. I turned the knob, the tension increasing constantly as I wondered what was behind that door.

I woke up with a start. I looked around me and saw lamp posts glowing. It was night already.

"Dammit," I said under my breath as I picked myself up from the grass and walked home. I had never seen that part of my dream before, but I thought about it more. Maybe that person saying that was me and maybe I was a little kid when I said it. But who was that person, and why was I afraid of what was behind that door?

I walked into the apartment lobby to see the landlord's door closed and the shutters closed along with it. I walked past and towards the elevator. Time to get some real sleep. I pushed the button and waited for it to open up. Nothing. The button didn't even light up.

"Strange..." I said under my breath as I tried the button over and over again. Maybe someone was running maintenance on it. I turned around to walk over to the stairwell until I saw three people in ski masks behind me. They all looked alike, even their brute builds were somewhat alike. However, they immediately turned hostile as I heard the loud thunk of a metallic baseball bat or pipe hit me over the head. I was sent to the ground quickly, but I put up a good fight until I was hit a few more times. Darkness surrounded me as I almost fell unconscious. I could feel the guys pick me up and walk out the complex with me, then I felt the cold floor of a van parked outside. That's when I went unconscious.

*...and in other news, one of ONBA's very own has gone missing. The ONBA has issued a country-wide manhunt for their officer, named Manic Grave. Currently, the ONBA suspects that Grave was kidnapped. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Manic Grave, please contact the ONBA headquarters immediately.*

Chapter 5 done, please review! I live off them like a vampire! ^_^


	6. V1 ch 6: The Past Always Catches Up

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts  
  
Chapter 6: The Past Always Catches Up  
  
ONBA couldn't find Manic ever since he disappeared, even with the help of the newly-established World Three, so Ryuu and I set out to find him on our own, along with one of Ryuu's friends who was living with him, Ms. Tenjou Miyuu.

"Any luck yet?" Ryuu asked us as we met up on Beach Street after we were done looking for any information for the time being. ONBA had given up the search for Manic about a week ago, but we weren't ready to give up yet. We even asked Joseph and Shinzuka to help us out. Joseph even asked his father, Edric Katsuya, to search through the ONBA system for anything about a sighting of someone being kidnapped. We all questioned my landlord, the landlord of ACDC Apartments, but he said that he didn't hear anything the night Manic was kidnapped. We had our doubts about him, but we knew that he didn't have any motives whatsoever for taking Manic away as prisoner.

"No leads..." I responded to Ryuu.

"None..." Miyuu responded as well. We had searched well over half the day for anything, but in the end it didn't matter. Manic was gone and there was no trace of him. The apartment across from mine would stay a lot quieter now that he was gone. I could tell that everyone, even Miyuu, who didn't know Manic that well, didn't want Manic to disappear like that.

"Well," I sighed, "I guess we should stop..."

"I can't believe that he vanished just like that," Ryuu said, looking at the ground. He then looked up at me and said, "Kinzoku, are you sure that the ONBA did a thorough search of his apartment?"

I nodded. They searched everywhere in and near his apartment, but couldn't find any traces of a struggle. I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to believe that they didn't check everything out, that they had missed somewhere, but it didn't seem like there was another place they skipped over. But they didn't. I was even there when they searched. This was the only time where I felt powerless to save someone, like I couldn't do anything to bring him back. I just felt anger inside of me building up. Whoever did this would pay dearly. That I was sure of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Wake up."

I felt someone throw ice water onto me, shocking me awake. I was still bruised from the day before, and I somehow knew that today would be worse than yesterday. That was how it always was. I shivered a bit from the water, but then tried to focus my eyes and see the figures past the bright light shining in my eyes. My legs and arms were tied to the wooden chair I sat on, my clothes torn and bloody and my spirit dropping steadily. I had never wanted to die more in my life than now, but I willed myself to keep going on through their tortures. I needed to outlast them, to prove to them that I wasn't going to give into them. I wasn't afraid of what they would do to me.

"Now then, Mr. Grave," the surly voice from behind the light spoke again, "Do you know why you are here?"

I shook my head slowly. I tried to squint my eyes to see past the light, but it wasn't any use.

"Well, then, you should be happy, today's your last day with me..." the voice sounded evil and cold to me, even though to others he would have sounded like he were a kind and gentle man. I knew that wasn't the case. I squinted my eyes to below the light and saw pairs of feet standing there. I counted ten legs. Five people.

"Anyways, I'm getting my money's worth out of you today," the voice said again. He started to circle around me. "Now, I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer them truthfully. If you lie to me, then I'll just have to ask my boys here to teach you some manners... is that clear?" While he said that, I tried to gather up enough energy to turn my head to focus on the man, but it was no use. I was completely drained.

"Now, question number one," the man started as he hid behind the light, "Where did you get that silver necklace?" He was referring to my tribal necklace.

"Don't know..." I answered simply, with a smirk on my face. Suddenly, I felt a sharp crack across my neck. My head snapped forward and a pain ran through my body.

"Now, I'll ask you again. Where did you get that necklace?"

"None of your busin--" I then felt a loud thunk across the side of my face from a metallic bat. I looked to the side and spat out some blood. I was starting to lose consciousness again.

"Fine, then... since you won't be kind enough to answer that question..." the man said evilly, "Then I'll ask my final question." He then snapped his fingers and footsteps came towards me. Finally, I could see someone's face through the light. He had dark, messy hair with silver in a few places. He was a young guy, but I could tell that he was older than I was. However, his face was what shocked me the most.

He looked a lot like me.

My eyes went wide as the head was pulled back for a while. I could see that, even though he put on the face of a cold and emotionless killer, he still felt sorry for what was happening to me.

"Now, do you remember who that person is?" the voice said again.

  
"Remember? I knew him?" I felt another sharp whack across my cheek again.

"Well, then..." the voice said, "I've had my fun with you, although you refuse to answer my questions truthfully... boys, have fun." I could hear the dial of an old radio turn up some music as I heard two sets of footsteps leave the area. I squinted back at the person I saw clearly and saw a look of sadness upon it.

"Now, boss told us to have fun, so..." one of the thugs said. I could recognize their voices easily because they were the same thugs who kidnapped me from the apartments. I could hear a metal pipe beating slowly on a table while someone picked up the metallic bat again. I could also hear someone lightly hit a piece of wood on the ground. Suddenly, the light turned off and I was met with blow after blow from each weapon. I screamed in pain as one of them broke my arm and another broke my shin. I had never longed for death more, especially from this Hell. My eyes were now shut because of the blood dripping down my face. The details were gruesome, but I finally felt my consciousness fading away, but I could still feel the pain surging through me. It was almost unbearable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Yeah, mom, I'll be back in an hour!" I was off to see my friends in Marine Harbor to take our license tests. I was so happy! I had turned twelve just last week, so I was old enough to take the test. I ran down the sidewalk to the station and ran down the stairs, holding the rail as I went so I wouldn't trip. I ran over to the ticket machine to get a ticket for the train. I smiled as I took the ticket and walked towards the train.

My ticket slipped out of my hand and I bent over to pick it up. When I looked at it, it had two red dots on it. I thought that was a bit weird, then another red dot dropped onto it, then another and another. I looked up to see where they were coming from.

And I ran out of the station screaming.

*This just in, the ONBA Official who went missing a week ago, Manic Grave, has just been found in the ACDC Metroline Station, laying on top of the ticket dispenser. No one knows who took him or who put him there, but it is obvious that he did not get up there of his own volition. It has also confirmed rumors about a possible kidnapping of the young Official, but the kidnappers are still unknown. Grave is in critical condition over at the Beach Street hospital and his recovery chances are slim. We'll have more information as it comes, thank you for watching Digital News Network.*

Chapter 6 done. Review, please.


	7. V1 ch 7: Comatose

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts  
  
Chapter 7: Comatose.

I looked at him through the glass window, along with everyone else there. Ryuu, Miyuu, Joseph, Shinzuka. Even two old people were there talking to the doctor about Manic's condition, and a person none of us had met before, but he told us he went by GC. This was bad. The doctor told us that with all the injuries he sustained, including some massive internal bleeding, it was a miracle that he was still breathing. We all knew he would pull through, he just had to. The doctor didn't know who Manic really was, but we did. He would make it.

Since technology advanced for a while, so did the healing processes of patients in hospitals. There was no way to determine when Manic would snap out of the coma, but his injuries, broken bones and the like, could be healed in less than half the time than it could a long time ago.

I rested my forehead against the glass, finally feeling the effects of no sleep for well over a day, and I could tell that everyone else was feeling the same. Shinzuka couldn't stop crying, even for a few minutes. We all knew that Shinzuka saw Manic as more than a friend, but the big lug couldn't see it. Every time she came along, she always hugged onto Manic's arm, but he always tried to play it off as normality. He was even starting to soften up for a while there, too, and showed the same affection towards her.

I sighed. "I think we should all go home... there's nothing we can do for now..." I said, exhausted. Ryuu and I demanded that we were to take Manic to the hospital and the chief agreed to it. He even stopped by and told us that it was he who Manic was forced to test against when we all went to apply for ONBA. However, he didn't stay for long to chat, so that's all he told us, along with some info about things that happened while we were there.

"You're right..." Ryuu said. He walked slowly towards the exit door. "We better get sleep. He wouldn't want us to be like this for him." I nodded to that and walked towards the door as well. Everyone else followed a few minutes later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It's been a week since we hospitalized Manic. He was still there, comatose, but Ryuu and I were back to working at ONBA.

"No, Ma'am," I said over the phone, "we can't take him out of custody until we get his reports cleared. We'll call you as soon as they are, though." I hung up the phone and leaned back on my chair, with my hands behind my head. I realized that Manic actually made this job at least mediocrely fun with the pranks we would pull on each other.

"Oh no..." I heard Ryuu mutter as he looked through the net from his desk screen. I got up from my chair and walked over to see what he saw.

"What's wrong?" I said.

"We have to get to Beach Square quickly," Ryuu said immediately as he got up from his chair and marched towards the door. I quickly followed him and we both jogged towards Beach Square.

We finally made it, but nothing looked any different.

"What was the problem?" I asked Ryuu, but he quickly took out his cyberband. I then figured that some viruses went loose in the net. I put my cyberband on as well, but I didn't see any viruses around. However, I did see a man standing in the middle of the net square. he had a pitch black t-shirt and baggy shorts that went below his knees and were covered in chains. His hair was also black with a few hints of silver, but the most striking thing about him was that he looked a lot like Manic.

"What's going on here?" I said to the person. It looked like his eyes were glazed over as he looked at me. His icy glare pierced through me as I took one step backwards. He seemed too emotionless to actually be human, but I could tell that he was. "Hey, answer my question, what's going on!?" I said to him again. This time, he went hostile and slammed his fist into my abdomen, sending me back a few feet and onto the ground. He was still as emotionless as before, but he quickly turned back to the crowd.

"The end of your lives will be soon. Prepare for it." the figure then disappeared from sight. Ryuu helped me up from the ground and we quickly took off our cyberbands to pursue him, but we couldn't find a trace of the person anywhere. I gripped my stomach lightly.

"Are you ok, Kin?" Ryuu asked me.

"I'll live," I responded. "He was strong..." I said with a small laugh. Now I wanted to fight this guy for real.

"Why did he say our lives would end soon?" Ryuu asked. I could tell he didn't expect an answer, but I shrugged to his question anyway. "I don't think he could have meant it, but we had better tighten security around here," Ryuu suggested as I nodded in response and we both walked back to the ONBA headquarters. There was something definitely odd about that guy, I was sure of it. He had too much of a resemblance to Manic in his looks, but he definitely wasn't like him in any way whatsoever.

I got home from the ONBA late that night and laid in my bed, thinking. What did that person mean by 'our lives would end soon'? How was he that strong? I checked the capacity my cyberband had to keep me in the internet quickly afterwards and I saw that it was almost halfway down from its original position. There was no way he could have been that strong, especially from a single punch. That guy was not human, I was sure of it.

Chapter 7 done. Short, I know, but the next ones will be good. Review, please! ^_^


	8. V1 ch 8: Alone in the Darkness

"Worthless!" one voice cried out.

"You don't belong here!" another yelled in anger.

"Get away from us!" a third yell.

"Stop it..." I said to myself, holding my head in my hand.

"You can't do anything right, can you!?"

"You're pathetic!"

"Loser!"

"We hate you!"

"Do us all a favor and just die!"

"No..." I said, "You're not them... you're not my friends..."

"We hate you!"

"We despise you!"

"You're a plague upon our lives!"

I finally yelled. "STOP IT!!!!"

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts  
  
Chapter 8: Alone in the Darkness

I was on my knees in the pitch black room, holding my head in my hands. Those weren't my friends. Kin, Ryuu, Joseph, Shinzuka... they wouldn't say those things about me, I just knew it. I tried to stop listening to the screaming in the room, but no matter how hard I pressed on my ears, the screaming wouldn't stop. I couldn't take any more of it. All the pain the voices caused me, it was almost unbearable.

Suddenly, it stopped. I looked around me and saw that the black was slowly fading into a scene. I was on my knees in a grass-filled pasture, looking at a house in the near distance. I got up from my knees and looked around. It was a beautiful picture. I then heard one of the doors on the house close and saw two children run out. One of them looked like he was barely three years old and the other one looked about five years older. They were running around, laughing and playing with a soccer ball, as if they had no care in the world. I smiled to myself and walked towards them. They looked vaguely familiar from this distance, but I saw that one had a very light shade of blonde for hair and the older kid had dark, black hair with hints of silver in places. I realized that I had seen that kid before, but more grown up. It was that one guy.

The scene changed suddenly. I found myself standing near a playground. The kids were a few years older and the blonde-haired kid was outside, kneeling in the middle of a group of first-graders. I walked over to look at what they were looking at and saw that the black-haired kid walked towards the group and looked at it as well. The blonde-haired kid was holding a bird with some ruffled feathers, but everyone in the group kept saying that the kid saved the bird from getting killed by a bully.

Then, the child looked up to the black-haired kid and held the bird up in plain view.

"Look, Shadow! I saved it!" the child had a few scratches on his arms and face, but he had an unexplicable joy coming from him. I felt the same kind of joy within myself as he showed the bird to the kid, who was wearing a proud smile.

"You're a hero, you know that kiddo?" Shadow joked as he knelt down and ruffled the blonde-haired kid's hair a bit. "Come on, let's go take him to the nurse..."

I stepped back from the crowd with a smile on my face, but the scene changed before my eyes again. I was now inside the house I saw a few minutes ago. Also, I saw a man standing there with black hair looking down at the blonde-haired kid, now a little bit older. The man was holding a silver necklace, but I couldn't quite make out what it was. I squinted my eyes to see better as I walked towards them.

"...I'm so proud of you," the man said as he was about to put the necklace on the blonde-haired kid's neck. "This is a family heirloom that has been passed down from as long as I could tell, and I think you have earned it." I looked closer at it and saw that I knew what that necklace was. It was my necklace, my tribal necklace, the one that I was found wearing. I grabbed at my collar to see if it was there, but it wasn't. Then, it materialized onto my neck as soon as it was on the kid's neck.

"What's going on..." I asked myself as I stood back, feeling the necklace. It was warm and gave off a faint red glow. Then, Shadow came into the room and ruffled my younger self's hair a bit again, saying how proud he was as well. I had never been happier.

I then began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Shadow was my older brother, supposedly, and that man was my father, Mr. Grave. These were my memories, I was reliving them from the outside. I felt proud of my younger self too and I walked quickly over to ruffle his hair too, but my hand went right through. The scene faded away as I did that, but I was still inside the house. Shadow was looking out the window while a now older me walked towards him.

"Hey Shadow, wanna go play soccer?" the younger me asked him. No response from Shadow, though. His stare was completely fixed on something outside the window. Something was different about Shadow, though, as if his entire presence made things darker...

Shadow then turned around and I saw his eyes. They weren't the calm, proud eyes of the Shadow minutes before, but they were the same cold eyes that I saw back when I was captured. He stared at the younger me emotionlessly for a few seconds while my younger me was completely oblivious to this. He still thought that was his older brother, the one he would always look up to.

Then, Shadow backhanded the younger me to the floor. The soccer ball flew out of his hands as he rubbed his cheek.

"Shadow, why did you do that?!" the younger me yelled. Still, Shadow had the emotionless glare. His eyes were glazed over completely with that stare, but he still showed the coldness that he showed a while ago. The younger me got up from the ground and ran while I glared at Shadow and ran towards him.

"Bastard!" I yelled as I threw a right hook at his face. It went right through it, but I didn't care. I kept throwing punches and kicks. I wanted him to snap out of that look and return to the person he was. Suddenly, I now found myself standing in a dining room and saw my younger self staring at two dead and bloodied bodies on the floor. One of a long, blonde-haired woman and one of a black-haired man. My parents. My younger self and I shared the same look of shock as we stared at the lifeless corpses lying on the floor. They were dead. I then turned towards the doorway and saw Shadow standing there with a smile. A cold, lifeless smile.

"You..." I and my younger self said at the same time.

"Yes, me, Sonic," Shadow said as he walked towards the table. Why did he call me Sonic? Was that my real name? He kept walking towards my younger self and I stood in his way, but he passed through me and picked up my younger self by the throat and slammed him into the wall. He was choking under Shadow's powerful grip, I could feel his pain as well.

"They had to die," Shadow said, coldly, "and you will have to die as well." My younger self kicked rapidly to get free, but it wasn't any use. Finally, after a torturous few minutes of being choked, I saw my younger self's eyes light up with pure red, along with the necklace, and he kicked his way out of Shadow's grip. He then gasped for air for a few seconds, then ran outside and away from Shadow, who took up pursuit. I followed quickly behind.

We were now outside and Shadow finally caught up to me. He threw blow after blow, breaking various joints in my younger self's body. I felt every ounce of pain myself as I stood there watching. However, I looked towards the house and saw some people dragging my parents' bodies away. I then heard one of them yell, "Get a move on! I don't have control over him for long yet!" I didn't recognize the man, but I definitely recognized the voice. It was the same evil voice that I heard when he was interrogating me. I could never forget that voice.

I quickly turned back to see Shadow holding my younger self up by the neck again and walking towards a cliffside. My eyes shot open as I ran to stop him. My younger self looked like he was on the verge of dying, and I felt every bit of it within myself. My punches still went right through Shadow, though.

Finally, Shadow let go of my younger self and I went toppling over the edge of the cliff, hitting numerous boulders along the way. I saw this and skid down the hill after myself, trying to catch up. I knew it wouldn't be any use to try to catch my younger self, so I was forced to watch my bleeding preteen self being tossed down the cliff, hitting boulder after boulder. Finally, the unconscious body hit solid ground and laid there, motionless. I was now in the middle of being angry or saddened by what had just happened. Shadow used to be a good brother to me, but suddenly he changed. I didn't know how or why, but he changed.

Then, I remembered what that man said.

*Get a move on! I don't have control over him for long yet!*

I knew it. That man had somehow found an implant to put into Shadow to somehow control his actions. I knew that even just some years ago, technology was advanced to the point of mind control, although illegal. I couldn't believe this.

Night came and I was still watching my body, unable to do anything. The best that I could do is keep hoping that someone would come along and find me before it was too late.

"Look over there, John!" a woman's voice yelled. I looked to see where the voice was coming from and I couldn't believe what I saw.

It was Old Pops and Gram. They were the ones who rescued me and took me in, and now, I had seen how they had found me. I was saved, I knew it.

Finally, the entire scene turned white and I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I screamed loudly for a few seconds.

Then I finally awoke from the bed with a start, panting heavily. I looked around me. I was in a hospital room with various needles in my arms. I was alive, and I now knew my true identity. I now knew about my past. My real name was Sonic Grave, my brother was Shadow Grave. He had killed my family and almost killed me. He was controlled by the same madman who kidnapped me from the apartment complex. Even though he thought he was so smart, he forgot one thing.

He didn't kill me.

I quickly pulled the needles out of my arms and willed myself to get my clothes. I found that my usual clothes were cleaned of blood and tears.

"Thank you..." I said silently as I quickly got dressed and stormed out of the hospital room, making sure I wasn't seen leaving. Someone was going to pay for this, and I knew exactly who would.

End of Chapter 8! Review, please!


	9. V1 ch 9: The Battle for the Net

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts  
  
Chapter 9: The Battle for the Net  
  
I ran with all I could to ONBA, I had to look up anything possible about Shadow and where he might have been. I was still feeling a bit weary from the hospital treatments and drugs, but I kept myself running down the street. I felt something bad was about to happen. Something I didn't want to happen.

As I was running down the street, I swerved out of the way of a woman on the sidewalk quickly, but she grabbed me just before I could run past.

"Manic?" she asked me in a familiar voice. It was Shinzuka. I made eye contact with her as she did the same with her own eyes of disbelief.

"Hey," I said with a slight smile. That was all it took for her to throw herself onto me, sobbing silently. I held her for a second after overcoming my startledness.

"I thought..." Shinzuka said in my chest, "I thought you would never... never wake up..."

For some reason, I didn't feel uneasy at all. I felt better, seeing how much she cared for me. For all I knew, she was the one who cleaned my clothes from the blood. Thinking that made me feel even more grateful for her. I gently moved my head next to hers and whispered to her, "I wouldn't even dare leave you... I wouldn't dare leaving everyone..."

I then took my head up and broke off the hug. I could tell from the dampness of my shirt that she had been crying. I felt bad about breaking off the hug, I wanted to hold her close forever.

But I had things to do.

"I have to go, I'm sorry," I said to Shinzuka. I resumed my run down the street towards ONBA, hoping I could find out about anyone named Shadow Grave before they found out that I was alive again. I didn't want anyone else to suffer what I had. I didn't even know why they were after me in the first place...

I finally made it to the front doors of ONBA, but I had arrived too late. Three of the Officials were on the floor, beaten. *Not good...* I said to myself as I ran through the doors. I followed the trail of destruction to the Official's conference room, where I heard yelling from many people. I burst through the doors and looked around the room quickly. It was a mess. The main table had papers strewn about because someone was spread across it, unconscious and bleeding, while others were either on the ground nursing wounds or ready to attack the single intruder. I also saw Kin, Ryuu and Joseph there, fighting a losing fight against the intruder. However, when I slammed the doors open, they all stopped fighting to look at me. The intruder was none other than Shadow. Apparently, he was doing a good enough time holding his own against the ONBA, then I looked up at the main screen, where something was typed up for the rest of the room to see:  
  
BRING ME SONIC GRAVE OR ALL WILL PERISH.

"Manic!" Kinzoku yelled just as he was sent to the floor with one of Shadow's kicks to his stomach. He stopped the onslaught as he saw who I was. He didn't look much different than what I saw in my memories, but he had a black shirt with one long left sleeve, covered in wiring, and baggy shorts covered in metal and chains. We both exchanged glares from across the room.

"Sonic," Shadow said to me.

"Wrong. Sonic is dead," I said to him with a menacing tone, "You killed him long ago."

Both Ryuu and Joseph had confused looks on their faces as they looked at us.

"My name is Manic, now," I growled at Shadow, "And you'll pay for all you've done..."

And so the fight began. Shadow quickly hopped onto the table and ran towards me before I could even react. He leaped off the table into a flying kick at me, but I quickly rolled to the side and out of the way. However, Shadow's speed was immense. He quickly bounded off the doors and landed on top of me, forcing me to the ground, face first. I struggled to get up, but I couldn't.

"I will kill you in the internet," Shadow said coldly as he forcefully took my cyberband from my pocket and forced it onto the back of my neck, sending me into the internet.

I looked around myself and quickly got up from the ground. I tried to take off my cyberband, but I couldn't. He probably set a lock on the surrounding area, so I wouldn't be able to leave unless I could take the access code out of here myself. There was no way he could have been that strong or fast in the real world, it was near impossible. I got ready for the fight about to ensue by uploading a few datasilver. I wasn't going to die here.

Suddenly, I saw Kin, Ryuu and Joseph enter the net, following Shadow. He looked the same as he did in the real world.

"If you are all feeling confident," Shadow said in a cold, emotionless tone, "Then feel free to attack me all at once." Shadow stood where he appeared from, looking as if he wasn't ready to defend against anything. I ran at him with a fire sword while Joseph and Kinzoku ran at him with a dark sword and holy sword, respectively. Ryuu followed behind with an earth sword. I cut at Shadow, but he was able to dodge and elbowed me to the ground. The force behind his attack was great, I could feel pain surging through my entire body from that single blow, as I was sure they all could after he countered all of their attacks. I quickly got back up and threw fists of my own at him, but he quickly grabbed my arm and threw me to the ground, kicking me in the ribs once I was there. The fight went on for a long time until I felt like I couldn't even move any more, and neither could the other three. Shadow, however, showed no signs of slowing down his assault, though.

"Pathetic," Shadow said, lifelessly, as he easily dodged a punch of mine and sent me to the ground once again.

"Manic!" I heard a woman's voice yell at me. I didn't want to believe it.

It was Shinzuka. I cursed to myself as I knew she would eventually follow me, but I never wanted her to follow me to our deaths. I tried with all my remaining strength to look towards her, but it wasn't any use.

"You wish to fight in his honor?" Shadow asked without emotion again as he slowly walked towards Shinzuka. I looked at her and saw the fear in her as she moved away from Shadow. I had never felt so helpless in my life.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: As some of you may know from one of my past stories, I use music in my fanfiction. This one is no exception, so get out your CD players or MP3 players and listen to 'Sadame'(Destiny) from the X anime soundtrack.)

I felt helpless as I struggled to get up from the ground. I kept watching Shadow's advancement upon Shinzuka and the others' attempts to block Shadow's movements. They weren't working at all, but I had managed to at least pick myself up to a kneel on the ground, but that still wasn't good enough. His attacks hit me hard, and I was already weakened, but I needed to help. This was my last chance before Shinzuka would feel the same pain that we had experienced by the hands of Shadow.

However, I felt something different, also. Sort of like another voice inside my head was talking to me, but I couldn't make out the words. I then felt a sudden hotness from my silver necklace. It started burning up. I could then see flames encircling me, along with a great surge of power running through me. I then felt the necklace somehow absorb into me, making me feel much stronger.

Then, I felt myself being lifted up into the air, causing a reddish light all around me to illuminate the entire area. I could feel my arms flare up in flames, giving me even more power. I then looked towards the sky and saw a red ball of light ahead of me, coming towards me. I then closed my eyes and gently felt the light trace a tribal-like pattern into the left side of my face and neck. I opened my eyes shortly afterwards and looked around myself. I was still in the air, full of power. My clothes had also changed drastically. My black jeans became more loose-fitting and the blue hawaiian shirt I was wearing had turned into a long, blue, open canvas shirt. I finally gently felt the ground below my feet and looked ahead to see the shocked faces of everyone, excepting Shadow, who was still advancing towards Shinzuka, and now ready to strike. I reacted and instantly found myself carrying Shinzuka out of harm's way.

"I told you I'd be there for you," I said in my voice, mixed with another's. Shinzuka looked at me in awe as I set her down. I then turned to face Shadow with a glare. My speed exceeded his, now. Time to check strength.

I quickly ran towards Shadow and threw a right punch at his face before he could even react to it. The punch took him from the ground, and I followed through with a knee to his stomach, bouncing him off the ground, then another kick to send him into the air. My strength improved dramatically, as well. I felt like chasing after him in the air.

I jumped into the air after him, flames surrounding me, and sent Shadow to the ground with another fist. I hovered in the air for a moment, in awe at my own new-found power. I could see Shadow's stamina failing fast, but I wasn't done with him yet. I fell towards the ground and stopped a few inches from the ground, allowing for a safe landing. I landed on my feet and walked towards him. He still wore an emotionless stare as he rushed towards me in retalliation. I easily blocked his blows and sent two of my own punches into him, one into his stomach which he doubled over at, and the other to his chest, sending him back to the ground.

"Shadow Grave," I said in the same mixed voice, "For making my friends suffer, for killing our family..." Shadow was starting to pick himself up from the ground after hearing me. "You will pay for your sins." I somehow knew that even though Shadow's eyes were as cold as ice, I could tell that he was still the same Shadow from my childhood from under them. Something was masking them, but I needed to find a way to get him back. He jumped at me again, and I sent him into the air. I followed after him and send more blows at him, my arms still covered in flames. I sent him back to the ground with a kick and it tore the ground below where he was.

I then saw his eyes from that distance and I quickly fell to the ground. I picked him up into my arms.

He opened up his normal eyes. The ones I had known for a long time.

"...Sonic...?" Shadow said weakly.

"Yes? I'm here..." I said.

"...I'm sorry... they...they implanted something into me to control my mind..." Shadow said weakly.

"I'm just happy you're back... don't worry..." I said, holding him in my arms.

"...but...there's a failsafe devi--AAACCK!!!" I then saw Shadow spit up blood in horrible pain. After a moment, his actions stopped. Shadow was dead.

"Shadow...?" I shook him a bit. "Shadow!?"

I buried my head in his chest for a moment, sobbing, then raised my head and screamed to the cybersystem sky. I had flashbacks of the good times I had with Shadow in my youth. He was a very good brother to me.

My scream stopped and my eyes were shut and running with burning tears. My face was still raised to the sky.

"Shadow... why?..." I said through my tears. I could feel him fading from my arms, his body decomposing into streams of data slowly. There was now no trace of him, but my arms were still outstretched and my face raised to the sky.

I couldn't hold onto my power any more, I felt it slipping away from me, and my consciousness with it. I immediately fell into the rubble of where Shadow hit, unconscious.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: The song should have ended right there.)  
  
Chapter 9 down. Epiloge of Volume 1 coming soon. Review, please.


	10. V1 Epilogue Prologue V2

Volume 1 Epilogue/Prologue Volume 2  
  
*the sound of a small device shatters and echoes through the near darkness. A dim ceiling light is all that illuminates the area.*

"It's a shame," a voice said, "Shadow died..."

"How?" a higher pitched voice asked.

The original voice sighed. "It was a shame, he was a good soldier... he did just as I told him to... even killed his own family..."

A third, more deep voice spoke up, "That's because you forced him under your control with that little chip of yours..."

"Still, he could have gone against my programming at any moment... save for the fact that the failsafe activated..."

"Well," a fourth voice asked. It seemed more calm and cooler than the rest, as if he didn't care about almost anything, "what do you want to do now?"

"Well," the first voice said, "now that we know where one of the material deities are, we might as well target it..."

"Understood, sir," the higher-pitched person said.

"Well, make it happen, then," the first voice said.

"Will do, sir." the person then disappeared into the darkness.

"Ten zenny says he loses," the deeper voiced person said.

"I don't take bets..." the cooler-voiced person said as footsteps rang through the building.  
  
"Do you want the second try, if he dies?" the first voice said.

"Yes sir," the deeper voice agreed.


	11. V2 ch 1: Hospital Outpatient 7

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 1: Hospital Outpatient #7  
  
Beach Street was now experiencing the blossoming of Spring, love was in the air for all its inhabitants and the flowers were blooming in every place in which everyone could see. However, through this cheerful time of year, there lay a young man on a stretcher, in a coma after a grueling fight with his long lost brother, Shadow Grave. This young man's mind raced with anger, sadness and frustration constantly, but only for a brief moment as he soon fell unconscious from the strain on his body from becoming subject to a long-lost power, hidden for centuries, and a great power which very few knew about.

*Hey...*  
  
*Mmm...*

*Hey!*

*Five more minutes...*

*Wake up, dammit!*

*...*

*...Fine, sleep...guess your body wasn't cut out for it yet...*

*...what?! Hey, who are you!? What happened back th--*

*Calm down, calm down! I'll explain everything! Man, you're harsh...*

*Ok... what happened? Last thing I remembered was...oh no…*

*For the love of... ok, look, for the last time, your brother died long ago. There was no way to bring him back, but I'm sure that if you keep bawling over him like this, it won't change matters...*

*...you're right, but it doesn't mean I'll forget about hi--wait, who are you!?*

Manic shot up from the bed and quickly glanced around the room, looking for the intruder who was talking to him. To his amazement, no one was around, but Manic was finally awake.

*I tell you one thing; calm down, and what do you do? You don't calm down!* the voice said in Manic's head.

*Who are you?*

*Yech, that's a long story... ok, you know that necklace your pops gave you?*

*Yeah...*

*Oh, good, glad to hear you're not an amnesiac again...*

*Watch it, pal... I still have control over my body, I can kick your a--*

*Fine, fine, sorry... anyways, that necklace was my crib for a while.*

*You still didn't answer my question...*

*Ok, ok... *sigh* doubt you'll even believe this... I'm the god of fire. There, happy?*

*...*

*...oh, come on, it's not THAT shocking!*

*...what the hell are you babbling about?*

*Ugh...Fine, Theology lesson 101, kid... There are two planes of life, the spiritual and the material, and instead of one god ruling over them, there are six ruling each... I just so happen to be a god of the material realm. We each have our own elemental styles, so we have to link up with those who have the same style as we do. So, I'm stuck with you. Hi.*

*...Wait, if you were in that necklace, then why didn't you come out at that time?*

*What time?*

*When my parents were killed by my brother, why didn't you help me then?*

*Ok, there are rules to this. I couldn't absorb into you because you were too young and even if I did, it wouldn't have changed anything about your parents. They would have still been dead and your brother would have still been controlled by those freaks...*

*Ok...*

*Also, because you were unconscious that last part of it. The reason I absorbed into you a week ago was because you had a capable enough material body and you were actually awake.*

*...then why did you appear in the cybersystem instead of the real world?*

*Man, you ask a lot of questions... ok, the reason for that is because the cybersystem is possibly the closest link to the spiritual and material realms available. That is why I was able to absorb into you because there must be an equal level for integration to work.*

*Ok... so do you have a name?*

*Well, I've had lots of names... Vulcan, Satan, the Devil... Ugh, Ifrit... you people suck for giving me THAT name...*

*So you don't have a set name?*

*Nope, that's a perk of being a god, you have no name.*

*Hmm... well, make up your own name, then...*

*Cool... erm... how about... Infernos?*

*That works. Nice to meet you, erm... Infernos... where are you, anyways?* Manic looked around the room again, taking his time to examine every aspect of the room this time.

*I'm inside your consciousness. I'm here, but I'm not. I exist in you.*

*Ok... why were yo--*

*Gah! Can you stop asking questions until we're out of here!? As much as I like the material realm, I hate hospitals! Get up, out of bed, get your damn clothes on and we're outta here!*

And thus, the beginning of a new start, between Manic Grave, an ONBA Official who has seen his share of blood in life, and Infernos, the deity of fire.

Volume 2 chapter 1 is done! Review, please?


	12. V2 ch 2: Getting Back to Work

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 2: Getting Back to Work  
  
Manic quickly got up from the hospital bed and slowly walked over towards the room closet, where he assumed his clothes were stored. He was still suffering under the effects of the anesthesia, but he kept walking forward, trying to shake it off. Finally, after almost tripping up once due to total exhaustion from a week ago, Manic finally pulled open the closet door and saw his clothes hanging on the horizontal bar.  
  
Manic inspected the clothes for a second, remembering something.  
  
*Didn't my clothes change when you absorbed into me?* Manic asked mentally to Infernos.  
  
*Yeah, but that was only when we integrated fully... since then, everything about you has reverted back to normal...well... almost everything...*  
  
*Almost...?* Manic looked around until he noticed something about his forearms. They were encrested with deep red flame tattoos that went fully around the forearms.  
  
"How..." Manic said aloud.  
  
*That'd be because I absorbed into you on a spur-the-moment occassion. Had we not been rushed to do so, or had I just said 'what the hell' and absorbed into you myself without a cause, you wouldn't have those... but hey, what are you complaining about? They're cool, aren't they?*  
  
*Well...* Manic contemplated, *you have a point... they are pretty bad...* Manic stopped looking at his forearms and got dressed in his usual clothing, baggy jeans and the unbuttoned hawaiian shirt.  
  
"Oh..." Manic said to himself as he grabbed his necklaces. "Wait... why only two? Where'd the other one go?"  
  
*It's inside you now...* Infernos said. He seemed to calm down a bit more, knowing that Manic was on his way out.  
  
*Inside me?* Manic asked mentally.  
  
*Yeah. Since that's where I was trapped, that's what had to integrate into you on the spur-the-moment occassion. So, you have me.*  
  
Manic shrugged as he quickly put the necklaces on and walked out of the hospital room, looking down both ends of the hallway to see if anyone was there. No one. Manic closed the door softly behind him and walked down the hall towards the elevator.  
  
Infernos could see everything through Manic's eyes as well, being almost one with Manic's own soul.  
  
*Nice in here...* Infernos commented, happy that he had been freed from his prison.  
  
*Don't get too comfortable,* Manic thought, *I don't know how long we can stay integrated...*  
  
*Don't worry about that,* Infernos reassured Manic, *I'll stay with you until we finish up a job we have to do...Who knows? Maybe later on, we'll find out how to integrate on a full-time basis.*  
  
*That's true...* Manic said, almost happy to feel that power again. The power to actually save his friends single-handedly, although the drawbacks of the first time were immense.  
  
Manic quickened his pace towards the elevator and pressed the button a few times as he stood in front of the elevator doors, waiting for them to open.  
  
*Why did my clothes change that drastically, anyways?* Manic asked Infernos.  
  
*Well, when we integrate, it's basically a merging of two personalities. You preferred the baggy jeans because they're easier to move around in while I thought your hawaiian shirt was a bit too flimsy to provide any real protection, so that's why my keigoki came.*  
  
*Keigoki?*  
  
*Yeah, that sorta heavy blue jacket with short sleeves? That's a keigoki.*  
  
*Oh, kind of like the one Kinzoku wears,* Manic thought.  
  
*Yeah, exactly.*  
  
The elevator doors opened and Manic rushed in, immediately pressing the ground floor button. He wanted to get out of that hospital as soon as he could, now. He had remembered something he needed to do at work.  
  
*You just got out of a coma and you're already thinking of work!?* Infernos commented.  
  
*You would be too if it were as important as this...* Manic retorted.  
  
*Trust me, what you're thinking won't work. No one has ever heard of those guys. Even I don't know if they still exist.*  
  
*Damn...*  
  
The elevator doors opened once again and Manic stepped out into a filled hospital lobby. Manic's eyes shut for a few seconds to readjust to the bright rays of the sun as he stepped forward.  
  
"Wow... haven't seen the sun for a while..." Manic said as he walked towards the front door. However, he felt an arm grab his as he walked.  
  
"Hey!" Manic turned around to see a very familiar face.  
  
"Kin!" Manic said in surprise, "Why are you here?"  
  
"Can't a guy check up on his friend once in a while?" Kinzoku responded with a grin. Manic returned the grin and gave Kin a brief hug.  
  
"Thanks," Manic said as he let go and walked towards the doors, along with Kinzoku.  
  
*Hmm... there's something... odd...* Infernos thought for a moment.  
  
"Good timing, too," Kin said as they walked down the sidewalks of Marine Harbor, "The cheif planned a commemoration party for everyone who stopped that one guy last week..." Manic remained completely silent during this. He was still contesting with his feelings about his own brother dying in his arms. It was a feeling no one should have.  
  
"Hey, still listening?" Kinzoku said. Manic snapped back to reality and nodded in response.  
  
Kinzoku stopped walking for a second.  
  
"You know, that was one hell of a datasilver you pulled out back there," Kin said. Manic looked at Kin blank-faced.  
  
"Datasilver? What?"  
  
"I didn't know they even developed form-changing datasilver nowadays," Kin said, "So, where'd you get that? From the cheif? Top secret? Experimental?" Kin kept badgering Manic while smiling, while Manic kept shrugging Kin's arm off his shoulders.  
  
"No, it's not a new datasilver... but...oh well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you..." Manic said.  
  
"Try me," Kin responded.  
  
"Ok... well..." Manic tried to find the words to say, but Infernos beat him to the punch.  
  
"Well," Infernos said, using a deeper-pitch of Manic's voice to talk, "What happened was that I inherited a necklace from my old man and since my brother was killing people left and right, I thought, 'hey, that'd be uber- awesome to use that,' and the necklace held the spirit of the fire deity, the best deity ever, mind you, and that's why I became all powerful and stuff!" Manic gained back control of his right arm so that he could at least knock Infernos in the side to keep him from babbling on.  
  
Kin was speechless, while Manic finally regained control over his own voice and looked at Kinzoku again. "Something wrong?" Manic asked in his own voice.  
  
"...oh..." Kin merely responded, "Ok..."  
  
"...that's it? Ok?" Infernos said through Manic's voice again. Manic was getting a bit irritated at this now. "You're not shocked by that one bit?"  
  
"Well, no, actually," Kinzoku responded as he continued walking down the sidewalk, "I can tell through your voice, somewhat... also... there seems to be something... different about you... you know?"  
  
"True..." Manic said in his own voice again.  
  
"Anyways," Kin continued, "You, Ryuu and I are supposed to get something, along with Joseph..."  
  
"Ok..." Manic responded, "So, are we getting them now, or..."  
  
"Oh, no," Kin said, "He's holding a ballroom party tomorrow night on Beach Street, so get something good to wear..."  
  
Manic choked a bit at this. Never in his life did he think he'd have to dress somewhat formally for a party like this, much less have the clothes to do so.  
  
"I'm going home now, seeing that you're awake," Kin said as they were walking towards the Metroline station.  
  
"Ok, I think I'll head down to the office for a few minutes," Manic said.  
  
"Ok, see you tomorrow, then," Kin said as he walked down the stairwell and out of Manic's sight. Manic continued walking towards the ONBA Headquarters, his mind focused now on that party.  
  
*Man, where am I going to get a suit...* Manic thought.  
  
*Hmm... something about him...* Infernos thought as well.  
  
*What about Kin?* Manic asked mentally.  
  
*Oh... nothing...* Infernos responded, still thinking.  
  
Manic finally reached ONBA HQ in a few minutes, after grabbing a light snack to keep him from collapsing from his still-present exhaustion.  
  
"Hmm..." Manic said to himself as he walked inside the building and walked towards the back part of the building, where the Officials' desks were. He walked down the second aisle until he reached his own desk, littered with a few papers here and there. He logged onto his computer and checked his office email.  
  
"Hmm..." Manic said to himself.  
  
WELCOME, GRAVE/MANIC/ID 427  
  
YOU HAVE (7) NEW MESSAGES  
  
Manic looked through the messages, one of which being about the ball, another two from people around the office telling him congradulations and get well soon, and the other four were basically junk mail. Manic didn't stay long until he heard someone tap on the side of his desk. He looked up to see another familiar face standing at his desk.  
  
Ryuu.  
  
"You're ok, I hope?" Ryuu asked calmly.  
  
"Hey," Manic said as he nodded to answer Ryuu's question. Ryuu smiled slightly.  
  
"I was on my way home, actually," Ryuu said, "Do you want to get something to eat on the way?"  
  
"Sure," Manic responded as he logged off his computer and got up from his desk, grabbing his cyberband from the computer terminal, which made sure all his adaptor bits and datasilver were in working order.  
  
"So, what happened that day Shadow tore up everything?" Ryuu asked as he took a sip from his vanilla milkshake. He and Manic were walking back towards the Metroline on their ways home.  
  
"Pretty odd, actually," Manic responded, "But I doubt you'd believe me..."  
  
"Try me," Ryuu responded. Manic chuckled a bit. "What's so funny?"  
  
"Well, Kin told me the same thing today," Manic said, laughing that he suspected that Infernos would take over again and tell Ryuu a long-winded story about what happened. Manic sighed, "Might as well tell you too..."  
  
*Don't even think about it,* Manic said harshly to Infernos mentally.  
  
"I don't really know... at first, I felt like I was about to die, then...wait, I saw my cyberband capacity go over the limit, why couldn't anyone just log out?" Manic asked.  
  
"We found out after we got you out of the cybersystem that Shadow activated a program locking system for our cyberbands," Ryuu responded as both he and Manic walked down the steps of the Metroline station.  
  
"Program locking?" Manic asked.  
  
"It sent out electronic waves through the area so all cyberbands in the area would be unable to exit the net, so we would have died had we stayed in there and gotten hurt enough..."  
  
"Like the undernet..." Manic wondered.  
  
"Right," Ryuu responded, "So, the rest of the story?"  
  
"Oh, yeah," Manic said, trying to find the words again.  
  
*Oh no...* Manic thought.  
  
"Well," Infernos said, taking over partial control of Manic again.  
  
Time passed on the train as Infernos explained the entire ordeal to Ryuu, who was a bit more shocked than Kinzoku at this, but he chose to believe. Finally, the Metroline came to a halt in ACDC and both Ryuu and Manic walked out of the station.  
  
"So, Infernos is the deity of fire," Ryuu said, still trying to comprehend some of this, "and he was imprisoned in your necklace..."  
  
"Right," Manic said.  
  
"Hmm... I guess it'll make more sense later on..." Ryuu said, thinking as they walked. Unknowingly, Manic had followed Ryuu to Ryuu's own house. It was a decently-sized house, but fairly big for only one person to live in. Outside, however, there was a small statue on the front porch of the house.  
  
"Well, I better get home, then," Manic said as they reached Ryuu's house, "I still have to look for something for that ball tomorrow..."  
  
"Yeah," Ryuu said as he walked towards his front door, "See you tomorrow, then, Manic."  
  
"See you," Manic said. The walk to the ACDC Apartments didn't take long for Manic as he pushed the door open and walked towards the elevator.  
  
*What a day...* Manic thought, *First, I find out that I have a deity inside me, then I find out I have to dress up for a party tomorrow...*  
  
*It won't be too bad,* Infernos replied, *It's in your commemoration, so you're bound to get something...*  
  
Manic didn't respond to that as he pressed the seventh button inside the elevator. He stepped out through the open elevator doors once it reached floor seven and walked towards his apartment.  
  
*I only spent half the day awake and I already feel tired...* Manic thought to himself as he almost dropped his keys and unlocked the door to his apartment. Everything was kept the same way he had left it, which made Manic happy somewhat. He then went straight to his bed and fell down on it, falling asleep almost instantly.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So, what do you have cooked up this time?" a deep-voiced character asked.  
  
"Well, ONBA is holding a party for the people who killed Shadow..." a higher-pitched, nasal voice said.  
  
"First off, about Shadow," an innately evil voice said to the group, the leader of them all, "Well, he's not en...what are you planning on?"  
  
"Oh, ONBA is holding a party for those guys who killed Shadow," the nasal- voiced person said.  
  
"So, what's your plan?" the deep-voiced person asked.  
  
"Well, they'll need some sort of... 'entertainment,' won't they?"  
  
"Good plan," the leader voice responded, "This will be the perfect opportunity to stop them from being awakened right from the start. Leave as quickly as you can."  
  
"I'll arrange some things around for you," a cool-voiced character spoke up, "You're on your own for the rest..."  
  
"Well, showtime's tomorrow," the nasal-voiced character said with a bow, "and I'm off."  
  
Chapter 2 of Volume 2 is down! Review, please! 


	13. V2 ch 3: The Ballroom Fiasco

Kinzoku woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily. He slowly walked to the bathroom sink to splash some water on his face and try to rest, but every step he took seemed like an eternity of pain for him as he walked. He was still panting heavily, but he finally reached the sink and leaned on it with his left arm, his right hand holding his lower left ribs. He couldn't breathe regularly, only in short breaths. He calmed his breathing rate down enough so that we was breathing slowly, still holding his side.

Kinzoku could still hear the sound of steel cutting through steel, the cries of someone from far away, and his own searing pain.

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 3: The Ballroom Fiasco

"Man, what should I wear..." Manic said to himself as he looked through his closet and found absolutely nothing that could be considered dresswear. He looked through his small wardrobe over and over again frantically.

*Hey, this is your fault... if you had listened to me in the first pla--*

"Shut it," Manic said to Infernos. Infernos let out a small laugh as he watched through Manic's eyes.

*Hey, that could work,* Infernos said to Manic mentally as he took control of Manic's arm and raised up a black long-sleeved dress shirt.

*Guess it could,* Manic responded as he set the shirt aside and kept looking. After a while more, Manic found a pair of khaki cargo pants that looked somewhat appropriate. *These should do...*

Infernos merely sighed. *You have no tact... later on, I'm dragging you to that place I saw on the co--* Infernos stopped mid-sentence as Manic and he heard a knocking on the apartment door. Manic stopped his search for dress material and went to open the front door to see Shinzuka, Joseph's younger sister, standing there.

"Hiya, Manic!" Shinzuka said with a smile.

*Woah, she's cu--*

*Think it and you will die,* Manic responded mentally. "Hey Shinzuka," Manic responded. He then stepped aside, "Come in," he asked her and closed the door behind her.

"What's up?" Manic asked Shinzuka, having absolutely no clue as to why she came. However, while she was looking around the apartment, Shinzuka caught a glance at the clothes Manic set aside to wear to the ball.

"Is that what you're wearing?" Shinzuka asked Manic, not sure of whether she was happy or disappointed in his choice of clothing. Manic simply nodded, and Shinzuka shook her head. "Come on, I'm getting you real clothes!"

Manic was utterly shocked as Shinzuka rushed to the door and opened it and went towards the elevator door with Manic's arm in her hand. Manic barely managed to close the door behind them by kicking it shut and finally caught up to Shinzuka.

"Wait, wait, what's going on?" Manic asked Shinzuka, half-yelling in surprise.

Shinzuka pressed the elevator button and waited for the doors to open up. She was about a year younger than Manic and had flowing blonde hair with deep blue eyes. "Joseph told me about the ball and I felt left out and then he told me that you didn't have a date to go with and I thought that would have been lame for you to show up without a date, so I'm bringing you along as a date and now we're going to get you a new tux." Shinzuka spoke quickly and with a smile and walked into the elevator with Manic in tow. However, it seemed evident that Manic was just as baffled at the current change of events as before.

*How cute, you two are in love...* Infernos teased. *She's already dragging you along, just like a married couple, aww...*

*Shut up. Now.* Manic responded mentally.

*Bah... You'll be thanking me when we get home...* Infernos said as Manic merely rolled his eyes. The ball was tonight and Manic had no intention of telling anyone else that Infernos was integrated with him, nor would he be thanking Infernos for whatever he might do today with Shinzuka.

"Come on!" Shinzuka yelled with a smile as she dragged Manic out of the elevator and onto the sidewalk. She then slowed her pace down into a walk and latched onto Manic's arm.

*He's kinda cute like this,* Shinzuka thought to herself as she giggled a bit. Manic's face lit up like a firecracker when she latched onto him when they walked down the street. *I should do this more often...*

*Infernos...* Manic said mentally.  
  
*Yes?*  


*...you do not tell anyone about this.*

Infernos laughed like a madman, utterly enjoying the moment. *I can probably get you through this and get you a sweet tux, if you want...*

*...help would be nice. Yeah, help...* Manic said mentally, very awkward at this point.

*Ok, leave it to me...* Infernos then took control of Manic as both he and Shinzuka walked towards a small shop in central ACDC called ~The Dressed Met~.

"There's the place," Shinzuka said as she guided them towards the shop and Infernos opened the door for her.

"So, what did you have planned for a dress, Shinzuka?" Infernos asked through a deeper pitch of Manic's voice.

"Well," Shinzuka wondered, "...I only found out about the ball today, so I don't really have anything planned out..."

"Perfect..." Infernos said with a grin.

*Perfect?* Manic asked skeptically.

*Trust me, you'll like this...*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
After an eventful day at the tuxedo shop, the time for the Ball on Beach Street finally came. ONBA cheif officials and other officals from the Marine Harbor district came for the party, among many others.

"Hmm..." Ryuu said to himself as he walked past the doorway and looked around. He had a white tuxedo jacket with a black dress shirt underneath and black dress slacks.

"Ryuu!" Kinzoku said to catch Ryuu's attention as he walked over to him. Kinzoku dressed in a black zoot suit tuxedo, complete with the chain running down his left leg, but lacked a fedora.

"Kin, nice to see you after such a long time," Ryuu joked, seeing as how they had bumped into each other at the Challenger Hall this afternoon.

"Yeah," Kin responded, "it's been a long time..."

"Hey fellas," a voice said, coming closer to the two. It was Joseph, who dressed in a formal black tuxedo jacket with a blue dress shirt and black dress slacks, and a beautiful, brown-haired lady with a blue dress holding Joseph's arm.

"Well well, Joseph," Kinzoku said as he shook his hand, "I see you have a pretty girlfriend now, congratulations."

"Ryuu, Kin, this is Honeychile," Joseph said as he introduced his date, "She works in the Challenger Hall, so I'm pretty sure you've met her before." Both Kinzoku and Ryuu were surprised to finally recognize her.

"You look much different dressed up than in the Challenge Hall, Honeychile," Ryuu commented as she smiled. He only knew her as the water mage in the Challenge Hall, being feared for having a reputation with defeating her opponents quickly with her specialized flood datasilver and various other freezing attacks to render her opponents helpless.

"Nice to meet you two as well," Honeychile said with a smile, "I hear you three are getting special rewards today." The three of them nodded in response. "But wasn't there a fourth one?"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Kinzoku commented, "Where's Manic?"

"I have no clue..." Joseph said as Ryuu shook his head. "I don't even know where my sister is..."

"Here's a clue," a voice said from behind the netbattlers.

(A/N: If you want to, start playing the Hellsing Opening theme right here. BTW, Hellsing is a very good anime about a vampire, so think vampiric thoughts. Evil, bloodthirsty vampiric thoughts. It also helps a lot with the imagery if you imagine the events happening with the beat of the song.)

The netbattlers turned around slowly and saw Manic standing there, with Shinzuka holding onto his arm. Manic had an unbuttoned, blood red tuxedo jacket on over an untucked white dress shirt and blood red dress slacks. In Manic's right hand was a long cane with a skull head on top, handcuffed to his wrist. Shinzuka wore a blood red dress and colored her hair black and leaned on Manic's left arm, smiling evilly.

"Wow," Kin and Ryuu said as Joseph whistled.

(A/N: music fades out.)

*Infernos... you were right...* Manic said mentally

*...and?*

*...and I'm sorry I ever doubted you,* Manic thought in a monotone voice.

"What do you think, Joseph?" Shinzuka asked her brother. Joseph remained speechless with his mouth partially open. Suddenly, someone appeared on stage and held a microphone.

"Attention everyone," the person said. He was a fairly old man, partially balding. "I want to thank you all for coming tonight. I am the ONBA head cheif, Craig Massingale, for those of you who don't know me as chief or boss..." The crowd gave a small chuckle at this. "Well, we arranged this ballroom party for a dedication to a few good men, as I would like to call them." Cheif Massingale continued, "These men had shown great courage in defending the home fort a few weeks ago from an unsuspected attack at the ONBA Marine Harbor district and we are here to honor them tonight." The audience clapped for Kinzoku, Ryuu, Joseph and Manic. "However, there is one slight twist to this party," the cheif continued. "As you all know, the ONBA is a community dedicated to the prevention of crimes through the net, so... may we all put on our cyberbands to celebrate this party." Suddenly, the cheif vanished from normal sight, along with a few others.

"Might as well," Manic said as he took out his cyberband.

*Damn,* Manic thought, *we went through all that for nothing, then...*

*Oh well, you got a sweet tux out of the deal,* Infernos said, trying to lighten the mood. Manic then appeared in the internet with his regular clothing, as did everyone else in their own cyberforms. The cheif had even taken on his own knightly form as well, Manic remembering the last time he had to deal with him in his cyberform.

"Now we can all celebrate," the cheif ended his speech as he stepped off the stage and into the crowd once again as everyone resumed their conversations.

"Well," Ryuu said, taking off his visor for the time being, "I guess we should join the party, then."

Minutes passed as everyone had a good time conversing and dancing to the music. Even Joseph and Honeychile danced, although Joseph accidentally caused a domino effect by twirling Honeychile into another couple, making them fall forward. Kin and Ryuu were well off as well, Ryuu dancing with Miyuu as friends for one song, then Kinzoku dancing with a woman from the Challenge Hall he recently met. Manic and Shinzuka were dancing together as well, although every time they did, Shinzuka was the one to initiate the dance. However, the songs stopped for a few minutes so the band could have a break and everyone stopped dancing to talk.

"Manic?" Shinzuka asked.

"Yeah?"

"...you've never danced with a girl, have you?"

"I have..." Manic responded weakly.

"When?"

"High school?"

"...you haven't danced, have you?"

"Got me there..." Manic responded, defeated.

"You're not that bad a dancer, though," Shinzuka said to Manic. Manic perked up a bit in response.

"Er... thanks," Manic responded as Shinzuka grinned, then grabbed his arm to dance again. However, just as they were about to dance, the lights all around them went out, plunging everyone into total darkness.

"What happened?" Manic asked as he looked around.

"I don't know..." Shinzuka responded as she held onto Manic's hand tightly.

(A/N: Another song, if you will. Orphen opening theme 1, "Ai Just On My Love")

The music started playing as everyone looked towards the stage to see spotlights blinking on quickly to the beats.

The spotlights then shone brightly on sections of the band on stage with the beats. Manic and Shinzuka, along with everyone else, watched the performance, the main singer nowhere to be seen yet. 

Then, the spotlights quickly flashed each of the four sections of the band with each hit of the snare drum, then all the lights came on as fireworks appeared in the middle of the stage and the main singer appeared in plain sight for everyone. The main singer was thin and tall, with dark red, wavy hair and stylish clothing. Manic noticed that Shinzuka was ecstatic at seeing who the singer was.

"That's Ricky Matena!" Shinzuka yelled with excitement.

"Who?" Manic asked, wondering who that was. The singer was now walking along the stage, somewhat flirting with the women in the audience with his song.

"Ricky Matena, the greatest singer in the whole world, Manic!" Shinzuka yelled at him with excitement as she walked towards the stage unknowingly. Manic just stood there.

*Grr...* Infernos growled with anger.

"What's wrong, Infernos?" Manic asked, "You angry he made a better entrance than you did?"

*...you could say that...* Infernos responded with a small laugh.

After a while of singing, an instrumental occurred in the song while Ricky Matena walked back and forth across the stage, looking at everyone in the crowd with a charming smile. He then caught a glance at Manic, arms crossed.

Infernos then took partial control of Manic and glared back at Matena with an evil grin. Matena was taken back a bit by this, then went to the other side of the stage, with his hand to his left ear.

"Found him..." Matena whispered as he stared at Manic as he walked. "Start up the program..."

Ricky Matena then started singing again, kneeling down to caress Shinzuka's cheek softly, then got back up and finished the song out. Once he was done singing, the band played for a few more seconds to bring the song to a close. Once they played the final beat, however, the entire band, Ricky Matena and Manic suddenly exited the net, leaving everyone there. Everyone was in shock at what happened. Ryuu and Kinzoku tried to take off their cyberbands to exit the cybersystem, but no one could, not even the cheif.   
  
"Damn, internet lock..." the cheif deduced. The cheif then sent officials to check out what happened and to find a way back into reality.

In the real world, however, stood Manic with his demonic tuxedo and cane, and Ricky Matena with seven members of the band.

"Well well, deity," Matena said with an evil grin, "we found you at last..."

"Who are you?" Manic asked, not moving an inch.

"Funny you should ask... because your fire friend knows who I am, obviously..."

"Damn right I do, you heartless bastard," Infernos barked at Ricky by taking partial control of Manic.

"Such harsh words there... what do you call yourself this time?" Ricky asked with the same evil smile. His regular voice seemed a bit high pitched for a male's, but it still held coldness within it.

"Infernos," Infernos responded, "which is what you'll be screaming in a few minutes for mercy..." Ricky and the band laughed at this comment, then suddenly stopped and encircled Manic when Ricky snapped his fingers. Ricky glared at Infernos.

"I guess there is just no teaching a dumb mutt any manners, is there," Ricky said. Manic then took back control of his voice.

"Who are you?" Manic demanded.

"I'm Ricky Matena, as many of those people in the net call me..." Ricky said coldly, "But to a select few... and trust me, you're one of them... I'm the Jack."

"The Jack?" Manic said skeptically. "You're named after a card?"

"How foolish you are," the Jack responded as he turned his back and walked away slowly. "Finish him off now, I don't want that deity escaping..." The band started to move closer to Manic.

*Ok, I have some business to deal with him, so I'm taking over now,* Infernos said.

*Fine by me, this is your fight,* Manic responded. Infernos then took control of Manic and jammed the cane into the band member's face to his left quickly, then quickly dispatched the other members after that with merely the cane, as if they were mere punks looking for a fight. After a few minutes, the band was on the ground unconscious and the Jack turned around to see what happened.

"I can't believe you guys," the Jack said, "You couldn't even take him do--!" the Jack was then sent to the ground by a backhand from Infernos and the cane. Infernos then stomped once on the Jack's ribcage, breaking a few bones. The Jack started to spit up some blood as Infernos slowly jammed the end of the cane into the back of the Jack's neck, causing him to scream a bit.

"Go back to your master and tell him that I'm back in town," Infernos said with a menacing tone, "and that the others are coming back with me." Infernos then walked away from the Jack, letting a few of the now-conscious band members carry the Jack's body away from him.

"Let's go home, then," Infernos said as he walked. However, Manic regained control and halted.

*Why are we stopping?*

*I'm waiting for everyone else,* Manic responded. After a few seconds, everyone came out of the internet, relieved that they were able to escape from the internet lock. Everyone was a bit confused as to what happened during then, but the party resumed in the real world as if nothing had happened. Joseph received a medal of civilian honor for helping with the fight while Ryuu, Kinzoku and Manic were promoted to elite status and were put into a new district of ONBA Officials: Section Seventeen. Directly headed by Cheif Massingale.

Volume 2 Chapter 3 down! If you would like any of the songs, you may either contact me or you may buy the respective anime soundtracks the songs are on(that's the more legal way, btw). Again, I do not own Capcom or any characters/ideas they have. Please review. ^_^


	14. V2 ch 4: The Second Deity

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 4: The Second Deity  
  
"Nothing to do..." Manic said to himself as he walked down the sidewalk, a breeze lifting his hawaiian shirt from his body a little while his hands stayed in his pockets.  
  
*It could be worse,* Infernos said, *We could actually be doing work...*  
  
*That's true...* Manic agreed. It was too nice of a weekend to be doing any work.  
  
*Hey,* Manic said mentally to Infernos, *I want to try something...* He reached for his cyberband.  
  
*Ah,* Infernos responded, seeing what Manic was going to do. *Well, I'll try to hold up my end, just don't faint...*  
  
*Hey,* Manic said, *I did not faint.*  
  
*Whatever...* Infernos said back. Manic was about to strap the cyberband on until Infernos noticed something out of the corner of Manic's eye.  
  
*...and here comes a new challenger,* Infernos said with a grin as Manic noticed what infernos saw.  
  
"Hey, Manic," Kinzoku said as he crossed the street and walked towards him.  
  
"Hey," Manic responded.  
  
*Hehe... this'll be fun...* Infernos said.  
  
"Nice day, huh?" Manic said to Kin.  
  
"Sure is..." Kinzoku replied, looking up to the cloudless sky.  
  
"Yeah... nice day for a fight, eh?" Infernos said through Manic. Kin glanced at Manic from the corner of his eye.  
  
"...you're on, let's go," Kinzoku said with a smile. The two netbattlers then put on their cyberbands and appeared in the ACDC internet.  
  
"Well well, Mr. Grave," Kinzoku said slyly, while Manic stood there, just now aware of what was going to happen, "You suppose you're pretty strong with Infernos, am I right?"  
  
Manic got ready to fight his friend, "Yeah, wouldn't hurt to find out, would it?"  
  
Kinzoku chuckled a bit and got ready to fight as well. "I guess not."  
  
*Ohcrapohcrapohcrap...* Infernos said.  
  
*What?* Manic asked, a bit worried.  
  
*Well... nah, it should be fine, go ahead, have fun.*  
  
*...that doesn't sound too prom--*  
  
*Fight already, dammit!* Infernos yelled.  
  
The fight commenced almost instantly. Both netbattlers jumped past each other, cutting with the sword of their respective element, Manic with his fire sword and Kinzoku with his holy sword. Once they both landed, they both pivoted and rushed towards each other, parrying each others' blows left and right, until their swords were drained of their energies. As the swords deteriorated into thin air, Manic jumped backwards while firing two Big Cannon blasts at Kinzoku while a small shield formed onto Kin's left arm, allowing him to block both shots while kneeling. Manic rolled backwards as Kinzoku tossed his guard aside.  
  
"So far, we're evenly matched," Manic said, breathing a bit heavier.  
  
"I suppose we are," Kinzoku said, breathing heavy as well. Then, he smirked. "Let's kick up the fun a bit..." He then pressed a small button on his cyberband that allowed the area around them to be encased in a clear dome. Both netbattlers could feel instantly lighter and much stronger than before.  
  
"No datasilver," Kinzoku said as he stood upright, "just good old fighting..."  
  
"Heh... good old fighting with some major defiance of gravity..." Manic said as he lifted his foot off the ground. It seemed to easily float as he lifted it, then found setting it down to be a bit slow. He then faced forward and cracked his knuckles, "...I like it."  
  
"Start!" Kinzoku yelled as he ran towards Manic. Manic quickly dodged two strikes from Kinzoku while blocking the third, then dished out two jabs of his own, which Kinzoku blocked easily. Kinzoku then finished up his offensive with a powerful punch towards Manic's head. However, Manic was quick enough to duck under it and jump away from Kinzoku. He landed a few feet away from him and knelt as he slid back a few inches.  
  
*Hmm... something seems... different...* Infernos said.  
  
*Don't interrupt my train of thought!* Manic said mentally as he ran towards Kinzoku to start his offensive as well. Blow after blow from each of the fighters were blocked or dodged. They did seem evenly matched at the time, however, Kinzoku was able to get a good jab into Manic's stomach, causing him to reel over a bit, leaving him open to another attack. Kinzoku continued this for a few more punches, then finished up with an uppercut, sending Manic high into the air. Manic didn't really feel the pain, but he was shocked as to how high he really went. He looked down and saw Kinzoku jumping towards him. He smirked a bit as he grabbed Kinzoku's arm as he came towards him and sent a few jabs to Kinzoku's side, then pounded Kin's stomach with a right knee, then followed up with a bicycle kick, sending Kinzoku speeding towards the ground.  
  
Kinzoku's body tore up the ground as it impacted and Manic landed in a kneeling position, waiting for Kin's next move.  
  
"Wow," Manic said, looking at the crater Kinzoku made, "where did you get this program?"  
  
"Vincent's shop," Kinzoku responded as he lunged towards Manic once again. Manic was caught off guard was sent backwards from a right hook, then sent into the ground by Kin's jumping stomp. Kin was about to leap off Manic to create distance between the two, but Manic grabbed one of his ankles and tripped Kin while rolling the opposite way and getting up.  
  
"You're pretty good at hand to hand," Manic said with a smirk.  
  
"Not too bad yourself," Kinzoku replied as he got up from the ground. Both of them were pretty beaten up, but they were always ready for more. They dealt blow after blow, wearing each other down little by little and enjoying it.  
  
*...wait...* Infernos said, still thinking while Manic and Kinzoku were fighting.  
  
*What now?* Manic asked, irritated.  
  
*...I got it,* Infernos said, ignoring Manic. He then took control of Manic's body and sent Kin to the ground with a well-placed punch. Kinzoku got up from the ground after he skid a few feet and looked at Manic.  
  
"Hey, what was that for?" Kin said, rubbing his chin. Infernos walked towards Kinzoku and just stared at him for a minute.  
  
"Erm..." Kinzoku said, awkwardly, "what's the problem?"  
  
"...well well, I found you," Infernos said with a smile, "You thought you could hide there, did you?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Kinzoku said, getting up from the ground and dusting himself off. Manic took back control and took a step backwards.  
  
"Er, sorry about Infernos," Manic said to Kinzoku.  
  
*Ask him abou--*  
  
*No, you've already gotten me into enough trouble for today,* Manic scolded Infernos mentally. Infernos' interference broke the silent code of honor between Manic and Kinzoku, and Manic really hated to have his code of honor broken.  
  
*Just ask him if he--*  
  
*No!*  
  
*Fine, I'll do it.*  
  
Infernos took back control of Manic's body and looked at Kinzoku.  
  
"Hey, why do you have something ins..." Infernos paused to see Kinzoku grasping his left ribs and wincing. "Something wrong?"  
  
"Heh," Kinzoku responded weakly, "this happens once in a while, don't worry..."  
  
"Why does it happen?" Infernos asked, sitting on the ground after asking his question.  
  
Kinzoku smirked and sat down as well. "Well, it's a long story, actually..."  
  
"We have a long time to waste," Infernos responded, "So go on."  
  
"Well," Kinzoku started, "I'll start at the beginning, then..."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Kinzoku walked down the sidewalk of Akihara City, one of the most technologically advanced cities of its time. He had not lived there, but he was a wanderer, having no real home. However, he decided to become a fighter for hire, competing in swordsfighting tournaments to gain respect from the local townspeople and some money to live off of. However, Kinzoku was very good at his line of work, for he reigned as the best swordsfighter in every tournament he competed in. However, his entire life changed with the meeting of one woman and her brother.  
  
One fateful day, Kinzoku ran unknowingly into Naoko Kanzaki, a flower girl from Akihara City. Event after event, the two of them became good friends. Then close friends. Then they married, Kinzoku at 17, Naoko at 16. They loved each other very much, however there was one person who did not want this to occur.  
  
Naoko's brother, Kyouji. Ever since Kinzoku came to Akihara City that day, Kyouji always seemed to be shoved out of the picture, being the town's former swordsman at the time. With Kinzoku's arrival, he was now second best, and he could not live with that. Then, on one day, Kyouji snapped.  
  
"Souten!"Kyouji yelled throughout the town. "Come out and face me! It ends today! I will regain my honor!"  
  
"Kyouji," Kinzoku said calmly in the middle of the street, facing Kyouji from several yards away, "I do not wish to bring you any harm..." Rain started to fall as Kinzoku unsheathed his katana and went into a defensive stance. "But you leave me with no choice..."  
  
"You will be the one killed today," Kyouji snapped back, unsheathing his own sword, one that had been passed down from generation to generation in his family. He got into his own stance and faced Kinzoku down.  
  
They both went for each other, blocking each others' strikes. Naoko was on the sidewalk, yelling at both of them to stop fighting. Tears rolled down her cheeks as they fought, each one of them getting a cut from their opponent every so often. Finally, they broke off and stood a few yards away from each other, panting heavily. Kinzoku's face had blood everywhere while Kyouji's arms were covered in cuts with blood oozing out of them.  
  
"Yaah!" Kyouji yelled as he did a rising cut at Kinzoku, who did a diagonal cut at Kyouji. However.  
  
Both blades shattered upon impact. Katana shards flew everywhere and in a matter of seconds, all three lay on the ground, bleeding.  
  
However, Kinzoku slowly picked himself up from the ground to see his wife and his brother-in-law both dead. Kinzoku felt a sharp pain in the left side of his chest and gripped it, feeling blood trickle over his hands. His breaths were short and painful as he walked down the road, the grief of his murdered family overwhelming him with every step he managed to take.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Wow," Manic said after Kinzoku finished his story, "I'm sorry, Kin..."  
  
"It's ok," Kinzoku responded, shaking the story off. He picked himself up from the ground, but was stopped by Infernos, who took control of Manic once again.  
  
"So that's where she was..." Infernos said as he pressed his right palm against where Kinzoku's pain was.  
  
"Ah, what are you doing?!" Kinzoku said, surprised.  
  
"Wake up," Infernos said, "I need your help..."  
  
*What is he doing?* Kinzoku thought.  
  
*Ugh... what...* a voice rang through Kin's head.  
  
*...am I hearing things now?*  
  
*Huh? Heari...oh no... oh no,* the voice said in distress.  
  
"Rise and shine," Infernos said with a smirk.  
  
*Rise an...oh, no no no, Ifrit...*  
  
Infernos hung his head in shame. "Look, for the last time, my name is NOT Ifrit!"  
  
*Then what is it, Ifrit?* Infernos grit his teeth as he heard that name again.  
  
"What's going on?" Kinzoku asked with demand, "Who are you talking to? Why can I hear another voice in my head?"  
  
"Shut up," Infernos said quickly, still arguing with the voice. "Look, call me Infernos from now on, ok?"  
  
The voice stifled some laughter. *Infernos? Are you serious? That's the worst name I've ever heard.*  
  
"Shut up, at least I have a name instead of just being called 'god' or 'the holy spirit'..."  
  
*Damn, got me there...Ok, what's going on, Infernos?*  
  
"I need your help... obviously, I'm awake already, and you're the second one that I know of who's awake..."  
  
*And?*  
  
"And... I saw him again... They're back..."  
  
*Which one?* the voice asked, now serious about what Infernos had to say.  
  
"It doesn't matter which one, they're all after us... but right now, I need your help and the others' help..."  
  
*Do you know where the others are?*  
  
"No...I found you totally by luck..."  
  
*Ok... Well, let me introduce myself to this guy and we can get rolling...*  
  
Infernos took Manic's hand off Kinzoku and stepped back. Kinzoku was already stressing out, but then stopped when he heard the voice speak directly to him.  
  
*Kinzoku, I presume?* the voice asked.  
  
"Yeah, that's correct," Kinzoku said aloud.  
  
*You can just think your thoughts, you don't have to talk aloud...*  
  
*Ok, thanks.*  
  
*Hello, then. I am the Deity of light. There's a huge backstory as to how and why we were all imprisoned in inanimate objects, but we can discuss that later...* the voice continued on after a short pause. *Hmm... name, name... How about... Naoko, that's a pretty name.*  
  
*Yeah...* Kinzoku thought. He then shook his head, *Wait, how did you know her?*  
  
*Don't worry, I was there, so I know who she is, and your story...*  
  
*Wait... you were in...* Kinzoku then gripped his left side.  
  
*Yeah, I was.*  
  
Kinzoku was a bit speechless at this point. He then thought for a second, then thought again.  
  
*Wait, if you are part of me now,* Kin started, *then shouldn't I be knocked out for about a week or so, like Manic?*  
  
*Huh?* the deity said in disbelief. *Hold on a second...* Naoko then took control over Kinzoku, her voice a bit higher pitched than Kinzoku's.  
  
"What happened, Infernos?" Naoko asked.  
  
"Hey, don't look at me like I'm the guy to blame," Infernos responded, "I had to, we didn't have a choice, he would have died!"  
  
Naoko sighed. "Well, can't change the past... so I guess we better get to hunting..."  
  
"Yeah, that's right," Infernos agreed.  
  
And thus, over the weekend after the ONBA Ball, another deity has emerged, Naoko, the deity of light. She is now part of Kinzoku Souten Hyoukai, once a master swordsman, now an ONBA Elite, along with Manic.  
  
V2 chapter 4 done! Review, please! ^_^ 


	15. V2 ch 5: Operation Elite

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 5: Operation Elite

Manic was walking towards Ryuu's house on a bright and clear Saturday afternoon to deliver the message that they were ordered back to work. Friday was a tough day for he, Ryuu and Kinzoku because they had to take down a small-time data smuggling ring all on their own and under their chief's direct orders. He wasn't very pleased with how the outcome came about, two of the thugs left with broken limbs while the rest had managed to destroy almost half of ACDC Internet Two while they were all fighting, especially when both Manic and Infernos managed to integrate once again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Kin!" Ryuu yelled as he saw Kinzoku being thrown around the internet by the smuggling lord.

"Gah!" Kin yelled out as he was dashed against a stray RockCube that Ryuu had activated for cover earlier. Manic was on top of the cube, hurting, as he felt the shock of Kin's cyberform thrown against it.

*Doesn't that guy know never to hit a woman!?* Naoko cursed inside Kinzoku's head.

"You're not really a woman, you know..." Infernos managed to say while he threw himself off the RockCube, landing on the ground next to Kinzoku.

"Ugh... so what now?" Kin managed to ask Manic.

"...I don't...wait..." Manic then thought of an idea. It may have been a dumb one, but it was worth a shot. He picked himself up from the ground using the RockCube as support and faced the smuggling lord.

"So, you want some more of me, eh?" he snarled.

"You're not enough for me..." Manic retorted.

*You thinking what I'm thinking, Infernos?* Manic said mentally.

*Yeah, I am. Let's do this.*

"Showtime!" Manic said aloud as he dropped to one knee and pounded his fist into the ground. Suddenly afterwards, flames swirled around him and he became Manic/Infernos once again.

"Heh, I'm actually getting used to this now," Manic/Infernos said to himself as he cracked his neck. The smuggling lord was in shock after seeing this. Never before did he hear of a datasilver that allowed something like this.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"And the rest is history, sir," Manic said in front of the ONBA Head Chief, with Ryuu standing next to him at attention. Chief Massingale was fuming, but it was dead silent after Manic shut up.

"...Sir--" Ryuu started as the Chief slammed his fists onto his desk and stood up.

"Then tell me why the hell you three had to wreck almost half of the entire internet, for God's sake!?" Chief Massingale barked at the two elite officials. "God dammit, half the committee's going to be on my ass about this and I specifically told you three to keep destruction to a minimum for once!"

"Sorry, sir..." both Ryuu and Manic said as they hung their heads. The chief calmed down and sat in his leather executive chair once again.

"It's ok, not like this is the first time I've warred with the committee..." Massingale said. "Anyways, I have a new mission for you three..." Both Ryuu and Manic perked up at this.

"...speaking of which..." Chief Massingale said, "Where's Hyoukai?"

__________________________________  
  
(A/N: Right now, if you will, please start up Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts' instrumental song, "Tank!". You'll love this part.)  
  
Kinzoku twirled the broom handle around himself and got into a ready position. Four thugs were on each side of him, each armed with knives. Kinzoku waited patiently for one of them to make a move.

*So... who wants some?* Naoko said mentally.

*They really don't know what's in for them,* Kinzoku responded as he twirled the broom handle around into an attacking stance.  
  
*They're about to find out what happens when you attempt to rob a convenience store...* Naoko said menacingly. She was taking control of Kinzoku's upper half and in full control of how the broom handle would be used. The thugs had just come in here a few minutes ago, but they meant business from the start. Kinzoku was conveniently getting something light to eat for a snack when they came in, thus starting the fight.

Finally, a thug made a move from Kinzoku's front and lunged towards him with the knife. Naoko stepped backwards and spun around to avoid the knife blade while whipping the side of the broom handle at the thug to move the knife away from her. Then, she spun the handle around her arm and slammed the back end of it into the face of the thug that was behind her, then held the handle against the side of her waist and jabbed at the front thug a few times. She finished up with jabbing the back end into the stomach of the back thug and shooting it straight upwards and into the thug's head, then jabbed into the front thug again to distance herself from them, then spun the handle around more and got into a defensive position again.

With the broom handle behind her, she quickly glanced to both sides and the thugs, then smiled evilly.

Suddenly, all four thugs attacked from each side while Naoko quickly moved the broom handle around herself, miraculously blocking all the knife attacks from the thugs. It was apparent she was a master of the staff. Then, to go on the offensive, Naoko spun the handle around in her hands and to each of her sides, whipping the side thugs in the arms and legs while she walked forward. She then finished up, spun the handle around herself and waited for the left thug to attack again while they were all recovering from the attack.

Naoko then jammed the front end into the left thug's foot and shot the end upwards and over to the right thug's head, then jabbed backwards with the back end of the handle at the back thug, then another front end jab to the front thug's face. She then swung the broom handle over her head to get the thugs away from her again, then shoved it into the side of the front thug's foot. Then, Naoko called her acrobatics into play and lifted herself from the ground and lifed herself up and over the front thug using the broom handle and landed in a kneeling position. 

With the broom handle with her, Naoko then spun around with the broom handle, whipping the front thug in the side before he actually moved while Naoko was standing up.

*Wow, you're pretty good,* Kinzoku said, allowing Naoko control of the situation while she spun the broom handle around in her hands and getting ready to attack again. She then rushed towards the front guard again with the broom handle ready to strike with the middle. However, the handle broke into halves when the front thug raised his arm to block. Naoko took advantage of this and used both ends to smack him in the abdomen twice and once in the head, sending the guard reeling while Naoko ran away from the thugs, allowing them to chase after her.

Naoko ran down one aisle and went rushed into another thug and past him while ditching the broken broom handle. She then took a corner and ran down the next aisle. She then slid through the legs of another thug and rolled to behind the cashier's counter, where two more thugs were making their entrances. She rushed past them and rolled across the countertop and ran down an aisle, only to find that a thug was loading up a submachine gun. Naoko skid to a halt in the aisle and looked on in shock.

*Not good...* Kinzoku said as the thug cocked the machine gun and was ready to fire.

Naoko quickly backed up to the left shelves to avoid the gunfire, then quickly ran forward and up the shelves to the right and swung over the aisle median by means of a pipe running across the ceiling. She then got up and ran down the aisle and towards where the thug with the machine gun was. She then barrelled past him, knocking the thug into the aisle shelf, and she barrelled into a thug still carrying a knife. She rolled over the thug while disarming him of his knife and ran down another aisle, free of thugs, and ducked down to catch her breath.

*I haven't done this in a while...* Naoko said, *This is fun...*

*Don't get too used to it, this doesn't happen a lot...* Kinzoku responded.

Finally, both Naoko and Kinzoku heard safetys coming off of handguns as the thugs looked around the store for them. Naoko crouched and walked towards the end of the aisle and saw a thug looking around and with his back turned. Naoko then quickly threw the knife at the counter to catch his attention, then knocked him out with a hard punch to the face and dragged him into the aisle, relieving him of his 9mm handgun.

Naoko then looked at the end of the aisle and smirked evilly again.

(A/N: final chorus should start right now.)  
  
Suddenly, the aisles started to collapse into each other, creating a domino effect towards the guards. Naoko then quickly slid as she turned a corner and ran towards an unsuspecting thug and unleashed a flurry of punches, knees and pistol whips at the thug, finally knocking him out with a side kick to the face and relieving him of his pistol as well. Naoko then quickly ran over the fallen aisle shelves and pistol whipped a thug a few times. The thug showed signs of collapsing due to the hits to the face, so Naoko quickly grabbed the thug by the back of the head and dropped him to his knees while she waited for another thug to run up to her from behind. She then sent a knee into the downed thug's face, then side kicked the running thug with the same leg. Naoko then let go of the thug and pistol whipped him in the head one last time before noticing that she was now in between a low snack counter and the machine gun-wielding thug, ready to shoot another volley of gunfire at her. She quickly jumped over the counter and leaned against it, keeping her head out of view.

Naoko then checked the guns she retrieved and checked to see if there were actual bullets in them, one hand each pulling back the chamber of each gun. She then pressed down on the hammers with her thumbs(snare drum hit), and finally jumped away from the counter and backwards to face the thug. She fired a few times at the ceiling to get the thug to duck while she flipped around and used the barrels of the guns to launch herself back again and fired two accurate shots at the machine gun in the thug's hands, disarming the thug. She finally landed in a kneel and shoved the guns into the abdomens of two thugs next to her now. Both thugs were white-faced and shocked.

Naoko then pressed a button on each gun to let the bullet clips slide out of the guns. The guards immediately fainted afterwards.

(A/N: Song should end here. Thank you.)

"Phew, that was fun..." Naoko said in a higher-pitched voice of Kinzoku's as she dropped the handguns and calmly walked out of the convenience store.

*Crap, we're late!* Kinzoku said mentally as he took control of his body once more and ran down the sidewalk towards ONBA HQ.

________________________________________  
  
"Sorry I'm late, chief!" Kinzoku yelled as he ran into the office where Ryuu and Manic were waiting for him. Kinzoku was panting a bit heavily as he shut the door behind him.

"Where were you?" Manic asked as Ryuu nodded in agreement.

"Oh..." Kinzoku said as he finally caught his breath, "I had some trash to take out..."

"Now that you're finally here," Massingale said sarcastically, calling the three elites to attention, "There's something I want you three to check out. Recently, there've been some reports of strange occurrences happening outside of the Undernet. I want you guys to check it out. Understand?"

The three officials nodded.

"Good, you're dismissed," Chief Massingale said as the three started towards the door. "One more thing," he added as they stopped in mid-movement, "...keep the damage to a low for once, this time."

The three officials nodded as they walked out the door.

"Wonder what's happening there..." Ryuu said as he put his hands behind his head as he walked.

"I don't know, let's go check," Manic suggested as they all walked towards the door.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
After a few hours of venturing towards the Undernet entrance, the three elite officials stood outside the entrance to a dark cave with an ominous mist coming from inside.

The three stood looking into the darkness for a few minutes before Kinzoku broke the silence.

"What do you think is down there?" Kinzoku asked.

"I have no clue..." Manic responded.

"Obviously something that breathes mist..." Ryuu added.

"Sounds painful..." Kinzoku said.

"And we're bound to get our asses kicked nine ways to Sunday if we go..." Ryuu added.

Another silence.

"...so, should we go in?" Manic asked, and caught two glares.

"Why the hell not?" Kinzoku said.

"Why even suggest backing down?" Ryuu added in.

"I wasn't suggesting it... well, let's go, then," Manic said.

(A/N: Here, for only a few seconds, is another song by Incubus, off their S.C.I.E.N.C.E. CD, called "Deep Inside". Start it now)  
  
The three stepped forward and into the abyss, each of them determined to find out what was down there, whether it be good or bad.

(A/N: Stop track.)  
  
Chapter 5 of Volume 2 is down now. I made this into a tribute for Kinzoku, one of my best friends(yes, he is a real person, and so is everyone else mentioned in this fanfiction. Except for Shinzuka, Shadow Grave, the Jack and Chief Massingale. And Honeychile.). Good luck with your Naginata technique, buddy! Anyways, please review this chapter if you get the chance. I feed off reviews, good or bad, like a vampire. Blah.


	16. V2 ch 6: Deuce's Wild

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 6: Deuce's Wild  
  
"So how are the operations going?" a voice asked.  
  
"Going great, we've recollected and reformed his body already," a calm voice said, "but he's not conscious yet, so we can't get them into him yet..."  
  
"Good. Jack?"  
  
"Yeah, arrangements all set, we'll be ready to host in a few months..." the Jack responded, "They'll be itching to enter, so we'll have them in our hands..."  
  
"Good. As for my part, data cloning is going smoothly. We've already captured the other five, Deuce has the other one right now. Now all we can do..." the leading voice stopped ominously after a few clicks from a keyboard.  
  
"...is wait..."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"So, where do you think this goes to?" Ryuu asked Manic and Kinzoku.  
  
"I have no clue, but this fog is starting to get on my nerves," Kin responded, irritated that he can't see the floor in case the area was laden with traps.  
  
"What I want to know is why no one noticed this place before..." Manic asked as they walked down the dank cyberspace corridor, "and what that smell is, damn..."  
  
"Wasn't me," Kin said.  
  
"No, I'm not talking about that," Manic said as he pushed Kinzoku towards Ryuu playfully as Kin chuckled, "it's stale air or something... but I can't quite notice what the smell is..."  
  
*It's the smell...* Infernos said, *...of death.*  
  
*Shut up, it's creepy enough in here without you talking,* Manic responded mentally as Infernos just laughed.  
  
"What's so funny?" Naoko asked through Kin's voice.  
  
"Nothing, just him whining about it being spooky in here," Infernos responded in Manic's voice.  
  
"I'll never get used to this..." Ryuu said as he shook his head. Having three people in one area was fine for him, but to deal with five voices was another. However, the three stopped as they all heard a loud clang of metal behind them.  
  
"What was that?" Manic asked as he turned around. The only light that was provided for them was the entrance to the labyrinth, but it was starting to fade away, leaving only the silhouette of the entrance. A short while after the sound, gears came to life, chipping rust off as they spun.  
  
"I don't know," Ryuu responded, "But it doesn't sound like it's friendly..."  
  
"Look out!" Kin yelled to everyone as he saw two large horizontal blades coming at the officials. They all ducked and rolled out of their paths and looked around.  
  
"Damn," Manic said, "We can't see any further down..."  
  
Kin immediately drew a Holy Sword, illuminating the area around them. "This'll work for a while, let's go." Immediately, Ryuu, Manic and Kinzoku got up and ran down the hallway towards the darkness, hoping to reach the end. They dove under more horizontal blades, leaped over spike pits that unearthed from beneath their feet and evaded numerous other traps awaiting them.  
  
"How many of these are there!?" Manic yelled as he hopped over another tiger trap pit in front of him.  
  
"It's best not to wonder these thing while they can still kill us!" Ryuu responded as he ran on the side of the wall, avoiding another spike pit. Kinzoku narrowly avoided being skewered by metal spikes that shot up from the floor by stopping before he ran into them, then ran past them and onto Ryuu's side of the corridor.  
  
Finally, they all made it to the end of the traps with their lives. They all looked back while panting heavily.  
  
"I don't want to go through that again..." Kinzoku said as he sat on the ground, Ryuu and Manic following suit.  
  
"Whatever's down here has to be good..." Manic said as Kinzoku set the Holy Sword in the middle of them.  
  
"We should find some way to contact the Chief," Ryuu suggested as Kin and Manic nodded in response.  
  
"The only thing is, how?" Manic said, "We're in the net, there's no way to make contact with the outside world..."  
  
The three sat in thought for a few minutes. Their situation looked darker and darker.  
  
"Maybe there is a way..." Ryuu said, still in thought.  
  
"What makes you think that?" Kinzoku asked.  
  
"Well, the cyberband has a built-in communicator," Ryuu said, "That's how our work computers communicate with each other, so what would happen if we tried to do the same thing from inside the net with one?"  
  
Manic sat in thought. "It could work... but how would we do it... wait..." Manic noticed something glitter next to Ryuu. "Ryuu, what's that?"  
  
"What's what?" Ryuu asked as he looked to his side. He noticed the object as well and picked it up. It seemed to be some sort of hand-held device used for communication through the net.  
  
"Hey, I recognize that," Kinzoku said, "they were popular back in the times of the cybersuits. People would use them to communicate with each other if they got lost on exploration projects or the like, but I doubt it's useable now..."  
  
The object had a screen with a small, worn keyboard beneath it.  
  
"Hmm..." Ryuu examined the communicator a little and found a switch for it. He flicked it on, but nothing happened.  
  
Suddenly, Manic got an idea. "Ryuu, does it run on electricity?"  
  
"It might..." Ryuu said. "What did you have in mind?"  
  
At those words, a gun formed in Manic's hand and surged with a few bolts of electricity.  
  
"...you're going to shock it to life with a Zapring?" Ryuu asked skeptically.  
  
"Do you have any better suggestions?" Manic responded. Ryuu sighed, "Ok, better than nothing, I guess..." Ryuu set the communicator against a wall while both Kinzoku and Ryuu stepped backwards, Kin taking his Holy Sword with him. It was starting to dim, but it would last for a while longer.  
  
Manic then took aim with the Zapring. *Hope this works...* Manic said to himself as he fired the electricity at it.  
  
Amazingly, the device shocked to life. Ryuu reached down and picked it up after receiving a small zap from it, then looked at the screen. It showed a ready message for him.  
  
"Ok..." Ryuu said, "All we have to do is send a message to the Chief's computer and hopefully he'll get it." Ryuu typed on the communicator frantically.  
  
--to: CMassingale@onba.off.gov  
  
--from: DiCampos47@akilabs.gov  
  
--Subject: Elite  
  
Chief, we're in the cavern, but we were attacked by traps and found an old comm. device. What is going on here? Respond quickly.  
  
Ryuu, Manic, Kinzoku  
  
"There, sent the message," Ryuu said as he put the device in his pocket and left it on, so they would get a response.  
  
"Well, at least we know that works for next time," Manic said lightly.  
  
"Let's move on, we'll see if he sent a response later," Kinzoku suggested. Manic and Ryuu nodded and walked down the hall, looking out for any more traps. They walked down the hallways with the dim light from the Holy Sword Kinzoku was holding. It was starting to fade away, but down the hallway there was a source of light that seemed to illuminate the cavern barely.  
  
"Wonder what's down th--" Ryuu started to say as he noticed a rattle in his pocket. The device had received a response. Ryuu pulled it out and opened up the response.  
  
--to: DiCampos47@akilabs.gov  
  
--from:CMassingale@onba.off.gov --subject: RE: Elite  
  
To tell you guys the truth, we received the info about this cavern from an anonymous tip. We're analyzing who sent it now, so be careful. I'll contact you later once we find out more. Chief  
  
"That makes me even more nervous," Kinzoku said, "Who sent the tip in?"  
  
"I have no clue..." Manic responded, "but we know that whoever sent the tip in knew there would be danger here..."  
  
"It could be a set-up, guys," Ryuu said as he pocketed the device again, "stay on guard." The three resumed walking down the fairly-lit corridor, slowly approacing the source of the light. However, before they could see what was ahead clearly, Ryuu received another message from the device.  
  
"They were quick about finding who sent the tip in," Ryuu joked as he read aloud the message. "We found something out about who sent the tip in. It was by a group..." the screen flickered a bit, "...by a group called...damn." the screen shut off completely now.  
  
"Did you catch the name?" Kinzoku asked Ryuu.  
  
"I didn't catch all of it," Ryuu said, "but it looked like it had the word 'poker' in it..."  
  
"That's a weird name for a group..." Manic said as he thought about who sent it.  
  
"You must mean Pokerface," a deep-pitched voice rang through the hallway. The three officials turned towards the sound of the voice immediately.  
  
"Who's there?" Manic yelled out. Ryuu dropped the communicator as they all walked towards the light. Once they reached it, they found out that the light led them into a large room with a man standing in the middle of it with crossed arms. He wore black sunglasses with a leather jacket over a dark green shirt and black pants.  
  
"Who are you?" Kinzoku asked the man, not sure of whether he meant harm or not. Manic and Ryuu were ready to act as well as Kin when he spoke.  
  
"Well well, I'm surprised you three made it here alive..." the man said as he crossed his arms. He was bald, but he looked strong and towered over the three officials. "That means I get to have some fun for right now... hehe..."  
  
*Careful...* both Infernos and Naoko said mentally.  
  
*What's wrong?* Manic asked Infernos.  
  
*There's something different about him... I can feel it...*  
  
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," the man said as he cracked his neck to the right, "People call me the Deuce. You'll be calling me daddy after this."  
  
Ryuu spat at this, "There's no way you can take all three of us!"  
  
"Oh, but you're wrong there, son," the Deuce said, "Because you don't know what I'm capable of yet..."  
  
"We'll see who's wrong..." Ryuu responded. For some reason, Ryuu was more than ready to fight this character than any other person they've met.  
  
"Let's go, then," Manic said.  
  
Suddenly, all three officials ran towards Deuce, each wielding the sword of their element. The Deuce smirked evilly as he took off his sunglasses to reveal both a brown-colored eye and a green-colored eye, then swiped at all three swords with a large, red sword that shattered the officials' swords. Deuce then cut again and sent them all flying backwards. Both Kinzoku and Ryuu slammed into the wall while Manic slammed against the side of the opening and caught himself after that.  
  
"You guys have courage, I'll give you that," Deuce said as his Breaker Sword disappeared. All three officials were hurting after that single attack. "But even with that, you don't stand a chance against me."  
  
"We'll see about that!" Manic yelled as he uploaded two Big Cannon datasilvers. Two guns formed into Manic's hands as he took aim and fired at the Deuce. The Deuce quickly dodged the gunfire, but this was enough for both Kin and Ryuu to unleash their attacks against the Deuce as well, each armed with their own elemental swords again. The Deuce quickly backflipped out of the swords' way and punched at both officials. All three exchanged their own attacks, but the Deuce was too fast for them. He quickly grabbed Kinzoku's leg after Kinzoku sent a side kick at him, and threw him into Ryuu, sending both officials out of the way for Manic to fight the Deuce as well.  
  
"You're pretty good," Manic said as he threw a punch at the Deuce's face. However, the Deuce caught the punch and swung Manic around in a circle.  
  
"I'm too good!" Deuce yelled as he threw Manic towards Kinzoku and Ryuu, sending all three hunters down.  
  
*Not good...* Naoko said.  
  
*There's no real way they can stand up to him at this point...* Infernos said as well.  
  
*Why is he this strong?* Kinzoku asked Naoko.  
  
*Can't you see the aura coming from him?* Naoko asked. Kinzoku looked at the Deuce to see a faint green coming from him.  
  
*What does it mean?* Kin asked.  
  
*It means that we're fighting one of our own...* Infernos said.  
  
*What!?* Manic yelled mentally.  
  
*He's one of the chosen... he has the earth deity on his side...* Infernos explained, *But I never thought one of them would be able to integrate with one of us... damn traitor...*  
  
*He's using both of us!* a voice called out to Infernos and Naoko.  
  
*...oh shit!* Infernos said.  
  
*So not good...* Naoko said.  
  
*What's not good!?* Kinzoku asked quickly.  
  
"So, are you three just going to lay there all day?!" Deuce asked menacingly. Ryuu managed to stand up while Kin and Manic were trying to figure out what all this meant.  
  
"Kinzoku, Manic, what's wrong?" Ryuu asked as he glared at the Deuce.  
  
*Manic, remember how I said there were twelve deities?* Infernos asked.  
  
*Yeah...*  
  
*Well... he has two of them with him, one from each side...*  
  
*...oh shit...*  
  
*Exactly. We gotta integrate.*  
  
*Now,* Infernos and Naoko said at the same time.  
  
*Right,* Kinzoku and Manic responded.  
  
"Ryuu," Manic said while he got up from the ground.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Keep him distracted for as long as you can..." Kinzoku said, "We'll be back in a few..."  
  
"Ok, good luck you two..." Ryuu responded. Kinzoku and Manic then got up and moved away a few feet.  
  
"So, I'm left with facing you, huh?" The Deuce said with a snarl as he saw Ryuu pacing towards him.  
  
"You'll never defeat me," Ryuu said menacingly. He was starting to show anger at this opponent, something that was hardly ever seen in Ryuu. Ryuu and Deuce exchanged blows for a few minutes until they both heard something.  
  
"Showtime!" Manic yelled as he dropped to a knee and pounded his fist into the ground. He was then enveloped in flames.  
  
"You will not defeat us!" Kinzoku yelled as a white light eminated from him as he stood.  
  
Suddenly, Manic/Infernos was standing next to Kin/Naoko, both ready to fight. Kin/Naoko wore a white priest's robe over black baggy pants and had a golden crest on his forehead. His hair was now short and deep purple, tossed everywhere.  
  
"Ryuu, get back!" Manic/Infernos yelled as both he and Kin/Naoko rushed towards the Deuce with lightning speed.  
  
"I knew it!" Deuce yelled as he hit Ryuu aside and faced both integrated deities in battle. It wasn't a long fight until the Deuce was sent flying into a wall, leaving an engraving in it.  
  
"Guh..." the Deuce said as he fell onto the floor and onto one knee. "Hoped I wouldn't have to do this, but..." The deuce then let out a loud growl as both his eyes turned bright green and his body started to change.  
  
"What's happening with him?" Kin/Naoko asked.  
  
"He's going through a change... but how?!" Manic/Infernos responded. Ryuu got up and felt pain surge through his body from the fight before.  
  
*Is this why he's called the Deuce?* Ryuu thought to himself, *He can change into another form?*  
  
Suddenly, the Deuce became something grotesquely resembling a giant beast on four legs, covered in scales and sharp, jagged teeth. The huge beast was at least quadruple the size of the officials and was much more powerful.  
  
"Not good..." Kin/Naoko said.  
  
"You got that right..." Manic/Infernos responded.  
  
Suddenly, the beast made its move and lunged towards the officials. It swung with its huge front arms and sent Ryuu flying into the wall, knocking him out temporarily. Kin/Naoko was sent into the opposite wall, crumbling it, while Manic/Infernos latched onto the arm.  
  
"Big doggie!" Manic/Infernos shouted playfully as he held onto the arm for life as the beast swung it around, trying to get him off. Finally, Manic/Infernos lost his grip and was sent high into the ceiling above and came crashing down.  
  
*Can't... take much more... hurt...* Manic/Infernos thought to himself as he lay on the ground. Kin/Naoko finally got up, but the beast was too fast for him to react, and found himself being pounded into the ground numerous times by the beast's two front legs. The onslaught left Kin/Naoko with nothing left for energy, and he reverted back to Kinzoku. Manic/Infernos barely found the energy to stand up as Ryuu regained consciousness and stood up, using the wall for support. Manic/Infernos then reverted back to Manic and dropped to one knee.  
  
"Damn..." Manic said, struggling with pain, "It's a monster... we can't...huh?" A glint caught Manic's eye as he looked at the wall Kinzoku was thrown at. It had crumbled away to reveal a statue of a stone goddess with a red/silver object in front of it. However, before he could move towards it, Kinzoku was thrown into Manic and both officials slid on the ground towards Ryuu. All three officials were in pain now, but they couldn't do anything about the beast any more.  
  
"There has to be some way..." Ryuu panted as he helped Kinzoku up and off Manic while Manic picked himself up slowly.  
  
"That thing..." Kinzoku said between breaths, "is powerful..."  
  
"Really?" Manic said in pain as he picked himself up. He kept eyeing the strange statue in the back, then finally gathered up the strength to talk again.  
  
"Ok," Manic said to Ryuu and Kinzoku, "This is a last ditch effort... but you two distract it with shot datasilvers..."  
  
"What good will that do?" Ryuu asked, still holding onto the wall.  
  
"I don't know how to explain it, but... something's telling me to get over there..." Manic then nodded towards the stone statue on the opposite end of the room.  
  
"Let's give it a try, then," Kinzoku said as he uploaded a spreadshot datasilver and a Light Strike datasilver. Ryuu uploaded a Vine Cannon and a Great Cannon.  
  
"Ready?" Manic said. Both Kin and Ryuu nodded.  
  
"Go!" At the same time, Manic made a dash to the opposite end of the room while Kinzoku and Ryuu shot at the beast. The attacks merely made the beast flinch, but they caught its attention and it loomed slowly towards the two. They were frantically trying to ward off the beast with their datasilvers, but to no avail. Their only hope now was for the plan to work.  
  
Manic finally made it over to the statue of the goddess. He could clearly see what it was in front of the statue, a large sword lodged into stone. It had etchings of some arcane language and looked rather oddly shaped for a sword, but Manic didn't pay any heed. With all his might, Manic lifted the sword out of the statue and ran towards the beast, his eyes glowing deep red.  
  
The beast was now nearing both shooting netbattlers and was ready to strike them down, but it then recoiled in pain as it got back on all fours and roared in pain. As soon as the beast was down on the ground, both Kinzoku and Ryuu could see Manic standing on its upper back with the sword lodged into it, a green light coming from the wound. The beast roared in pain as it jerked back and forth, trying to shake Manic from its back. However, Manic was not moving at all. His eyes were still glowing red as he held onto the sword.  
  
Finally, the beast fell motionless onto the ground and shone a bright green. Manic's eyes reverted back to their blue color and he was thrown off the beast and into Kinzoku and Ryuu. The two netbattlers caught him and set him onto the ground to look at the events unfolding before them. A green light was swirling around the sword that was stabbed into the beast's back, then disappeared. The sword fell with a clatter and landed next to the Deuce's sunglasses.  
  
"Are you guys ok?" Manic said weakly.  
  
"We're fine," Ryuu said, "How about you?"  
  
"I've seen better days..." Manic chuckled dryly as he stood up and looked at the remains of the Deuce.  
  
"So that's why he was here..." Infernos said through Manic's voice.  
  
"Huh?" both Kin and Ryuu asked. Infernos walked over to the sword and let Manic pick both it and the sunglasses up. Manic examined the glasses for a moment, then threw them towards Ryuu.  
  
"Hey, put these on," Infernos said through Manic's voice as he walked over towards them with the sword.  
  
"What for?" Ryuu asked as he obeyed and put them on.  
  
"For this," Naoko said through Kinzoku as she placed a hand on Ryuu's cheek, her fingertips on the sunglasses. The sunglasses gave off a soft green glow and slowly evaporated into thin air.  
  
*God damn, that hurt...* a voice said inside Ryuu's head.  
  
"Who was that?" Ryuu asked as he slowly looked around the room.  
  
*Oh, hey man,* the voice said again mentally to Ryuu, *I'm the Earth Deity, nice to meet y--*  
  
"It's Mother Nature!" Both Infernos and Naoko said jokingly.  
  
"I'm not a girl, dammit!" the voice retorted through a much deeper pitch of Ryuu's voice.  
  
"You're not really anything, though," Infernos responded.  
  
"Maybe so, but I sure as hell ain't no girl," the voice said again.  
  
"Yeah, whatever, Princess," Infernos said as he rolled his eyes.  
  
"Ok, that's it, you're dead!" the possessed Ryuu then tackled Infernos and started to wrestle him down.  
  
"Tch, Men..." Naoko said through Kin as she stood by and watched. Both Infernos and the Earth Deity stopped wrestling and looked at Naoko briefly, then laughed loudly.  
  
"Stop that!" Kinzoku yelled, taking control of his body again, "I'm a guy!"  
  
"Whatever!" both Infernos and the Earth Deity joked. Ryuu then took back control of his body and got up from the ground, as Manic did the same.  
  
"Tell me who you are, at least," Ryuu said to the Earth Deity.  
  
*Don't worry, I can hear your thoughts, so you don't have to yell to the world all the time,* the Earth Deity said mentally to Ryuu. *Hmm... I don't really have a name... but...*  
  
*But what?* Ryuu asked mentally.  
  
*...I think I'll use Gaius. That sounds cool enough.*  
  
*Gaius... that was my navi's name,* Ryuu said.  
  
*Yeah, I know, that's how I came up with it,* Gaius responded.  
  
*Well, ok, Gaius it is, then,* Ryuu responded mentally, then caught notice of the sword Manic picked up again.  
  
"Where did that come from?" Ryuu asked.  
  
"Oh, this?" Manic asked, showing the sword to Ryuu and Kin, "I found it over at that statue... pretty light for a sword, but durable..."  
  
"Mind if I give it a swing?" Kinzoku asked Manic.  
  
"Sure, go ahead," Manic said as he tossed Kinzoku the sword. However, once Kin grabbed the sword, he was immediately sent down to the ground trying to pick it up.  
  
"You liar, it is heavy!" Kin yelled at Manic as he strained to pick the sword up. Manic merely walked over and picked it up with his left arm.  
  
"I didn't lie... it really is light..." Manic responded as he rested the sword on his shoulder.  
  
"Either way, it looks pretty vicious," Ryuu said.  
  
*...I remember what that is now!* Gaius said to Ryuu mentally.  
  
*What is it?* Ryuu asked. Gaius then took over Ryuu's voice.  
  
"That's the Sol Maxim," Gaius said, catching Manic's and Kin's attentions, "the sword of the gods. It's supposed to be unique for every user... but that form of it belongs to--"  
  
"Sweet!" Infernos yelled out as he just remembered what the sword was as well and swung it around, "We have a one-up on Pokerface now!"  
  
"Wait, what do you mean!?" Kinzoku asked, trying to piece everything together.  
  
"Ok," Infernos said, "Pokerface is the organization that has been trying to fight us off since the very beginning. We don't really know why they try to fight us, maybe because they're prejudice, or they're atheists or what not. Either way, they're out to find us, exploit us and kill us off. The guy we fought today was part of that organization." Kinzoku and Ryuu nodded in agreement.  
  
"Anyways, this is probably what they were looking for," Infernos said as he stabbed the sword into the ground and let it vanish in front of everyone, "so now that we have it, that's one more thing in our favor, and one less in theirs, making our path to freedom that much easier."  
  
"Wait," Manic said, taking control of his voice again, "so this means that Pokerface was the one who sent out that anonymous tip?"  
  
"Yes," Gaius said.  
  
"And they're the ones who killed my brother?" Manic asked.  
  
Naoko nodded.  
  
"And they're the ones who started this entire mess?"  
  
"For the love of... knock it off with the questions already!" Infernos said through Manic's voice, "Let's go home, we can think of this stuff later!"  
  
*Tch, fine...* Manic said mentally as he regained control of his body and all three netbattlers took off their cyberbands and appeared in the real world. However, they appeared in an area they didn't suspect.  
  
"Isn't this your house, Ryuu?" Kinzoku asked as he looked towards the house. In place of where the Goddess statue was, there was Ryuu's family totem on the porch.  
  
"Yeah... was there a loophole in that cavern that led us back here?" Ryuu wondered aloud.  
  
"We'd better get back to the Chief before he has an annuerism," Manic said jokingly. Ryuu and Kinzoku agreed and they walked towards the Metroline.  
  
And thus Gaius, the deity of Earth, joins the group. Ryuu, a Technomancer by heritage and elite ONBA Official, has been chosen as the carrier and friend of this deity. Together, along with Manic, Kinzoku, Infernos and Naoko, they must now find three more deities to awaken. However, this is only a brief cornerstone in their journeys together, as they attack the corporation they only know as Pokerface.  
  
V2 Ch. 6 Complete! Read and review, please! 


	17. V2 ch 7: A Hiatus to Meditate

"Reiki!" Tetsujin yelled out. Reiki tried to pick herself up from the ground as best she could, but it was no use. She lay there again, pretty much defeated. However, Koronenbu ran over quickly and, with his superior might and with the help of the Deity of Earth, picked up both Reiki and Trinku, and the others retreated along with him.  
  
"What the hell was that!?" Koronenbu yelled to Tetsujin. Tetsujin's Sol Maxim weapon vanished as they ran away, the two blades disappearing lastly.  
  
"Whatever it was, we can't beat it... not now, at least..." Tetsujin yelled back. The active four stopped as they hid behind a building for the beast to lose their tracks. They all waited patiently for the behemoth to move along.  
  
"...we might be able to rush him when he's off his guard..." Cecil whispered. However, Tetsujin slowly shook his head towards Cecil.  
  
However, they didn't expect that the beast...  
  
...would have a brother.  
  
BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 7: A Hiatus to Meditate  
  
It was a calm and cool Friday afternoon. The three elite officials were sitting in a booth eating a late lunch at Henry's Diner. Manic recognized it as the first place he went to eat when he moved to ACDC. Ryuu and Kinzoku, however, recognized it as a pretty good place to eat.  
  
"So, does anyone have any more thoughts about what the hell happened yesterday?" Manic asked before taking a sip of soda.  
  
"Well," Ryuu said as he leaned back on the booth, "we fought some person who called himself the Deuce, and he was able to transform into a beast..."  
  
*By using me and Haldrin...* Gaius added in mentally.  
  
"...Hal--"  
  
*My mirror elemental, he's a spiritual deity.*  
  
*Spiritual deity?* Ryuu asked mentally. *I don't understand...*  
  
*Well,* Gaius started up, pausing for Infernos and Naoko to relay the message over to Manic and Kinzoku, respectfully, *You remember when I said there were two planes of existance, the material realm and the spiritual realm, right?*  
  
*Yes...*  
  
*So, in each of those realms, there are six deities, one commanding each element. So, there are six deities here, us, and six deities in the spiritual realm. Haldrin was the Earth Deity for the spiritual realm. Or, at least that's what he was calling himself last time...*  
  
*Calling himself the Earth Diety?* Ryuu asked.  
  
*No, calling himself Haldrin...* Gaius corrected Ryuu.  
  
There was a short moment of silence. Finally, Kinzoku broke the silence after thinking of something.  
  
"So is that how he was able to transform into a huge beast? By having two deities?"  
  
*Theoretically, no human body can hold more than three deities at a time, otherwise they'd overpower the human's soul and then the human would be in a vegetable state...* Naoko replied. *Even with two deities, the soul can barely support them...*  
  
*But it would still be possible,* Infernos added in, *if they were both of Earth...*  
  
*Good point...*  
  
Another moment of silence and contemplation.  
  
*Moving along,* Gaius continued, *there is a sec--*  
  
*Gaius! Nec'lai tal!* Infernos yelled at Gaius.  
  
*Tuneka...* Gaius replied.  
  
*Et kurenai sota, nes takeni queti...* Naoko said with depression in her tone of voice. Kinzoku, Ryuu and Manic were still wondering what they were talking about.  
  
"Um..." Manic uttered.  
  
*Anyways, that's the story of the deities,* Infernos said, as if nothing had happened, *but I have a question of my own. Why would Pokerface send in that job request if they were that close to finding the Sol Maxim in the first place? They could have found it on their own easily enough, and Deuce was extremely close to it as well. So why did they call us in?*  
  
"Maybe to get rid of us from the start?" Manic said.  
  
*No... they're too smart for that...* Infernos replied, *There's an alterior motive here... I just know it...*  
  
"Hey guys," a familiar voice said as the owner of the voice leaned on Ryuu's side of the table, "Mind if I join in?"  
  
"Hey Joseph," Kin, Ryuu and Manic said. "Sure, sit down," Manic said as Ryuu moved aside for Joseph to have a seat.  
  
"Want something to eat?" Kin asked Joseph.  
  
"Oh, I already ate at home," Joseph replied, "Thanks, though. Anyways, I heard about what you guys went through down there, it's been the talk of the town ever since..."  
  
The three officials were shocked by this. So much that Manic choked on a piece of chicken he was eating.  
  
"How did they find out about it?" Ryuu asked, amazed by this information.  
  
"It was supposed to be covert op, how did it leak out?" Kin asked while Manic finally swallowed the piece of chicken. Joseph was just as confused as they were now.  
  
"It's been on the news all day..." Joseph said, "that, and that because of this, ONBA's being flooded with applicants, just to get this kind of recognition..."  
  
"I can't believe it..." Manic said finally. Suddenly, he saw his Cyberband jitter across the table, where he left it for the meal. He picked it up to read the message he got.  
  
"Chief wants us back at HQ..." Manic said, but then noticed another message tagged onto the end. "Wait... 'find the director of the Iron-Fisted Few and bring him too'..."  
  
"What does he want with me, anyways?" Joseph asked. The three officials shrugged.  
  
"Well, we better get going then..." Kinzoku said as he stood up from the booth and threw down some zenny to pay for his meal, along with Ryuu and Manic. All four walked out of the diner and towards the Metroline Station. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Huh? That's odd..." a spritely youth said as he stared at a computer screen. Statistics and portraits of criminals came and went on the screen next to a map of Marine Harbor. "Hey Knux..." he said quietly, but he doubted he heard over the sounds of bare fists hitting a punching bag.  
  
"Hey Knux!"  
  
One final hit before a lower-pitched voice yelled out, "What!?"  
  
"Come take a look at this," the youth said as Knux leaned on the back of the chair the youth was sitting on and looked at the screen. Suddenly, the map disappeared with the press of a button from the youth and several mug shots came up onto the screen.  
  
"What about them, Miles?" Knux asked.  
  
"Look at their status," Miles said.  
  
Each mug shot had a status bar below them, and they all showed 'mobile'.  
  
"...They're all mobilizing? Why?" Knux asked himself.  
  
"That's what gets me, Chris..." Miles said. Knux snuffed at the name. He then stood up and lightly hit Miles in the back of the head.  
  
"And call me Knux..." he said as he walked away.  
  
"Shouldn't we check this out!?" Miles yelled back to Knux, who was back to the punching bag.  
  
"I'll check it out tomorrow... but right now, we have to get more info about Bandit's Cove..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Sir, yes sir," Kinzoku, Ryuu and Manic all said in unison. Joseph was standing to the side while the three were talking with the Chief. Or rather, the Chief was yelling at them.  
  
"What I want to know is, how in the hell this information leaked!" Massingale yelled at them, "NSA's going to be all over my ass in a few days for this, and now everyone and their dog wants to check those ruins out! And even worse, I'm being flooded with applications from people who don't know what they're doing!"  
  
"Sir--" Manic and Ryuu started.  
  
"Shut up!" Manic and Ryuu hopped back a bit at Massingale's bark. "Now, the only way I can get rid of some of these people is to turn them back for not making the requirements, but that still leaves me with the few who won't back down so easily. That's where you come in, Katsuya." Chief Massingale nodded towards Joseph. "I'm making the Iron Fisted Few into a protectorate of the ONBA, so we can send people over to your side and that'll get them off our backs. However, there is one person I'm putting with you three..."  
  
"That is, sir?" Kinzoku asked. Massingale was rubbing his temples at this moment.  
  
"Go meet her, she's in the lobby..." Massingale said as he waved everyone out.  
  
"...Who the hell even knew we were down there?" Kinzoku asked the other three.  
  
"I didn't have any idea about it until I saw it on the news..." Joseph said, "So it sure as hell wasn't me..."  
  
"Wasn't any of us, either," Manic responded, "and the only one who knew we were down there was the chief."  
  
"We can worry about that later, I guess..." Ryuu said, "What's done is done. Let's go meet up with the rookie." Manic and Kinzoku nodded in agreement as Joseph stepped to the side.  
  
"I'm going to go meet up with the applicants for the Few, so I'll see you guys later." The three officials said their goodbyes to Joseph as they parted ways.  
  
Finally, they reached the lobby and saw a woman with brown hair and a knee- high purple kimono waiting for them patiently.  
  
"Hey Miyuu..." the three said to her. She then looked up towards them and stood at attention, to their surprise. She was the new ONBA Elite. Tenjou Miyuu.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Next..." Joseph said, tired already from the numerous applicants. Shinzuka was marking people off the list and had only one name on another list; the list of applicants who made the cut into the Iron Fisted Few. Taichi Matanoa.  
  
"Hey," another person said as he walked up. Joseph yawned.  
  
"What's your name?" Joseph asked.  
  
"Name's Derek."  
  
Joseph yawned again and sat up, "Datasilver set?"  
  
Derek dropped his cyberband onto the table and Joseph scanned through the list quickly. He then whistled when he saw a few rare datasilver in Derek's set and a few rare adaptor bits. Joseph then tossed the cyberband back. "Ok, you're in. Next." Shinzuka then wrote Derek's name onto the list.  
  
Then, a tall man with jet black hair stood in front of the siblings. He looked menacing, even if he was just giving a person a glance.  
  
"Um..." Joseph started, "name?"  
  
The man then used sign language to tell Joseph his name. However, Joseph had no idea what he was saying.  
  
"Um... that's great..." Joseph said. Shinzuka then handed the man a piece of paper and a pen. He scribbled on the paper and handed it to Joseph.  
  
Hello, My name's Jet Torasun. I'm applying for a position in the Iron Fisted Few.  
  
"Ok, Jet..." Joseph said after reading the paper, "show me your datasilver set." Jet dropped his cyberband onto the table and Joseph looked at it. He then gave it back after a while, along with the paper and pen.  
  
"Who's the highest ranked Challenger you've faced in the Challenge Hall?" Joseph asked. Jet scribbled some more onto the sheet of paper and handed it back.  
  
I have defeated all of the Rogue challengers and I am currently working on getting through the Specialty challengers.  
  
Joseph nodded at this. "Close enough... ok, you're in." Jet walked off with a smile and Shinzuka added Jet's name to the list.  
  
"Phew... I think that's enough..." Joseph said to Shinzuka quietly, then stood up.  
  
"I'm sorry, everyone, but all our positions are filled now. Thank you for applying, better luck next year." Several people grumbled as he and Shinzuka picked up their papers and walked towards the door, then quickened their paces as they noticed the mob of rejected netbattlers closing in on them.  
  
"This is why I hate auditions!" Joseph yelled to Shinzuka as they both started to run to the Metroline. Shinzuka looked like she was having fun, though.  
  
Volume II Chapter 7 down. Please read and review! 


	18. V2 ch 8: Training Day

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 8: Training Day

"Suspect at 10," Manic said behind dark sunglasses. He was leaning against a lightpost facing towards the street traffic in Marine Harbor with his hands in his pockets.

"Acknowledged, moving to intercept," Ryuu said into his jacket collar, also wearing sunglasses. He then casually walked down the opposite sidewalk from Manic towards someone reading a newspaper at the news stand. The man had a thick, brown beard and curly hair and overwhelmed both Manic and Ryuu in size. Ryuu reached into his jacket pocket just as Manic got up and walked on his side of the street so that he was now directly facing the man as well.

Suddenly, they made their move. Ryuu pulled out what seemed to be handcuffs from his jacket and quickly grabbed one of the man's hands and cuffed his wrist while Manic started crossing the street and pulled out what looked like a 9mm handgun.

"ONBA, don't move!" Manic yelled to the large man as Ryuu twisted the man's arm to behind his back. The man yelped in pain and dropped to one knee. People in the street were running as fast as they could through each other to get away from the crime arrest as Ryuu struggled to get the man's other wrist handcuffed. The man was not going in easily, it seemed. The man struggled to keep his arm out of Ryuu's reach until Manic came up and shoved the handgun barrel into the man's neck. A quick static shock seeped out of the barrel as the man lowered his head and was handcuffed by Ryuu. The man was still struggling, however, and managed to knock Manic backwards, but he still kept his footing and merely slid a short distance.

However, this was the opening the man was looking for. The man swung his fists around and knocked Ryuu out of the way as two large demon wings slowly came from his back and he took flight.

"Damn!" Ryuu yelled as both he and Manic watched the man fly into the air.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Ryuu," Manic said.

"Right!" Ryuu agreed as Manic holstered his cybernetic handgun, Fenrir. Manic then dropped to one knee and pounded the ground as Ryuu put his feet together and extended his arms as if he were performing Tai Ji meditation.

"Showtime!" Manic yelled.

"Spirits of the Earth, grant me power," Ryuu chanted.

Suddenly, Manic was engulfed in flames and emerged Manic/Infernos while leaves mixed with rose petals swirled around Ryuu. He emerged from the transformation Ryuu/Gaius. His black hair was now a forest green and had green armored boots covered by khaki cargo pants, a form-fitting black t-shirt with a green stripe that ran down one of the sleeves and continued down his left arm and had a clear green visor covering his eyes.

"Ready?" Manic/Infernos said to Ryuu/Gaius.

"Of course," Ryuu/Gaius responded. Both integrated deities then took to the air quickly and pursued the escapee.

However, the film stopped there.

"So, did you get the basic concepts of that?" Kinzoku asked as he walked in front of the screen. Tenjou Miyuu was sitting in a chair in front of the screen while Manic and Ryuu were sitting on their office desks.

"Um..." Miyuu thought, "...find a deity and become way powerful?"

Kinzoku slapped his forehead as Miyuu giggled. Kinzoku knew she was just playing around, but it annoyed him anyways.

"Planned arrest, that's what the basic concept was!" Kinzoku said. Manic and Ryuu even laughed at Kin's annoyance. "Had that not been an exercise the chief set up for us to do," Kin then glared at Manic and Ryuu, "and had they not wanted to show off at the end of the video, it would have gone cleaner. But you do get the basic concept, correct?"

"Hai," Miyuu responded. Kin finally felt proud. However, they were interrupted as a message played over the intercom. It was Massingale.

"ONBA Elites, my office. Now. And bring the rookie."

The four netbattlers now stood in front of Chief Massingale's office desk. It was littered with file folders and papers, along with three mug shots.

"Ok, we just got a call from the Netopia branch," Massingale started, "says that three of their biggest are on their way here to escape their jurisdiction. Now they're handing them over to us. We already settled the legal arrangements, so they can't get away if we nab them, so I'm putting my best onto this one. We did our homework and found they're taking up residence in Akihara."

The three Elites acknowledged this information and saluted the chief. The chief then glared at the three. "Take the rookie with you, she'll need the training."

"Sir!" the three said. Miyuu was making the comparison to them as if they were sheep in her head, but then felt someone jerk at the collar of her kimono and was dragged out of the room.

"Ok, off to Akihara, then," Manic said as they all walked through the ONBA doors and towards the Metroline. The train ride was a short one, but they finished their planning in that span of time just as the car stopped in front of the station.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Ok, battle plan?" Kinzoku started up as they all leaned forward to strategize.

"Most likely, they're in one of the ruins," Ryuu said.

"Right, but they'll take advantage of the internet locks there if they're hostile," Manic said in response, "So once we get them there, we're set."

"One of us should stay behind to see if the locks can be broken," Kin suggested.

There was a brief silence until Miyuu started to raise her hand. "How about we disable the locks before we get them? It'll keep us all together and we may all be able to arrest them."

Ryuu shook his head slightly, "We don't know how long it'll take to disable a lock. Even though it'd be risky for us, it'd be a lot easier to contain them in the internet rather than let them have both realms to wander about in..."

"Then how do you guys know you'll be able to survive against them!?" Miyuu said. The train stopped just as she finished her exclamation.

"Don't worry," Manic said, "We've been through worse..." Kin, Manic and Ryuu then stepped out of the car.

*Please,* Miyuu thought to herself, *don't share the same fate as Ame...* She then stepped out of the car and the doors closed just after she set foot onto the dusty ground of Akihara City.

"I know this place like the back of my hand," Kinzoku said, "so give me a few minutes and I'll get the locks open. You three get them into the net and beat them." Manic, Miyuu and Ryuu all nodded in agreement and they all walked silently along the walls of the building ruins, listening for signs of life.

Finally, Kinzoku picked up the sounds of voices coming from behind a wall. He motioned for everyone to hold their positions while he crouched down and sifted through the dirt below with his hand.

"There it is," Kin said to himself as he uncovered a small terminal used for PETs to jack into.

"Ok, I'll stay here and work on this," Kin said to the rest silently. They acknowledged this and walked towards the opening to the building.

"Yeah, we got away finally," one of the criminals said. The other two were laughing and conversed in a foreign language.

*What're they saying?* Manic thought to himself.

*I think they're saying...* Gaius thought to himself as he brushed up on his Netopian, *That's a good accent, it'll... drink everyone? what?*

*Trick,* Infernos said.

*Trick, right...*

*...do you really know Netopian?* Infernos asked skeptically.

*More than you. All you know is what you read from that brochure about the country,* Gaius retorted.

*That's enough,* Ryuu thought sternly, *We have a mission to do right now.*

*Right, sorry,* Gaius responded.

*Yeah, yeah... they're pushovers...* Infernos said mentally. Manic made the first move and threw a stone inside to distract them. Then, Ryuu and Miyuu ran inside and tried to take down two of the three criminals. Miyuu currently had one of them in a choke while Ryuu was busy holding a criminal's arm behind his back and slamming him to the ground.

"Damn!" the remaining criminal cursed in Electopian as he put on his cyberband.

"Two can play at this game," Manic said as he put his own on. However, the other two criminals were able to get their own cyberbands on as well, disappearing into the net. Ryuu and Miyuu pursued them and everyone met up in the internet.

Manic checked his cyberband quickly. The internet lock was still active. "Damn," Manic cursed as the three criminals had massively shaped cyberforms. They looked as if each of them could destroy buildings with their bare hands.

"So, you're Electopia's finest," one of the criminals gloated, "We hope you'll die serving your country!" Suddenly, the criminal rushed forward and swatted Miyuu aside and into the ground. Ryuu and Manic looked in shock, then turned back to the criminals with anger.

"Time for a real fight, then," Ryuu said as he backed up, then stepped backwards so both his legs were together and standing straight with his arms extended in Tai Ji meditation. Manic then dropped to one knee and slammed his fist into the ground.

Both Manic/Infernos and Ryuu/Gaius now stood before the criminals.

"Is that all?" the same criminal gloated.

"Not yet," Manic/Infernos said with a smirk as he extended both his arms. Ryuu/Gaius knelt down and extended his right arm to the side.

Suddenly, a short staff appeared in Manic/Infernos' hands with two large, intricately, shaped blades forming on each side. A large, rounded shield was forming along the back of Ryuu/Gaius' arm, the grip forming perfectly into Ryuu/Gaius' hand. Both weapons were well designed and had intricate engravings. They were the elemental manifests of the Sol Maxim.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Sol Maxim. The large sword that Manic first grabbed hold of was the first section of the Sol Maxim, in which it is the base form. However, for each attuned elemental deity, a special form of the Sol Maxim exists, combining both strengths of the user and the deity. Manic had preferred bladed weapons while Infernos preferred using the bo as a weapon. Thus, the Fire Swallow, a staff with two blades on each end, was manifested. Both Ryuu and Gaius preferred defensive measures along with a few offensive, therefore, the Earthen Shield became one with them. For Kinzoku, the bladed weapon is his specialty while Naoko preferred using polearms in days past. Thus, the Light Naginata came into Kin/Naoko's possession. Each deity held their own version of the Sol Maxim; however, there is yet to be a possessor of the True Sol Maxim, the large sword held by Manic for the first time since it was encased in stone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"You guys don't know who you're messing with," Manic/Infernos said as he readied himself with the Fire Swallow. Ryuu/Gaius grabbed the second grip on the back of the concave shield with his left hand and got ready to attack the criminals.

The three criminals never saw weapons like these before. However, they stood ready and uploaded datasilver regardless. One criminal shot a beam of scathing light at Manic/Infernos, who rolled out of the way just in time while the other two ran towards them with large swords drawn.

"Manic, support attack!" Ryuu/Gaius yelled as Manic/Infernos ran towards him. Ryuu/Gaius knelt down and held the Earthen Shield at an angle. Manic/Infernos then jumped onto the shield quickly and bounded into the air, high above the criminals, and came down with the Fire Swallow, ready to slice into them. However, Manic/Infernos was surprised to see that their swords could withstand his attack, and was pushed back while he was still in the air. He recovered his footing, but he wasn't in time to dodge the incoming light blast into his back. Manic/Infernos was sent flying past the criminals while Ryuu/Gaius smacked one of the criminals in the face with the shield before he saw Manic on the ground.

"Manic!" Ryuu/Gaius yelled just before getting hit in the side with one of the criminals' swords. He felt the sting and leaped backwards and into a kneel. Manic/Infernos quickly got up from the ground and readied himself again.

The criminal who shot at Manic/Infernos was now charging up another attack.

"Flood!" a voice yelled out.

The criminals looked in the direction of the yell to see a tidal wave of water rushing at them.

"Oh crap!" Manic/Infernos yelled as he jammed the Fire Swallow into the ground and used it to leap into the air as the flood nearly engulfed him. Even if it was an attack that helped them, Manic/Infernos was still susceptible to the element of water in the internet so much that it could nearly kill him.

Ryuu/Gaius swam towards the surface of the water, but stayed for a second to see a figure quickly swimming through the water and cutting through the criminals, one by one. They were helpless to do a thing and their data was sent swirling upwards into the sky.

Ryuu/Gaius then found out he couldn't hold his breath any longer and quickly swam to the surface, the Earthen Shield floating topside.

"Gah!" Ryuu/Gaius gasped for air as he reached the surface. Manic/Infernos was kneeling on top of the shield to keep himself out of the water.

"What happened to them?" Manic/Infernos asked.

"Something down there... a beast..." Ryuu/Gaius responded, still catching his breath. Both integrated deities then reverted back to their original cyberselves. However, Manic fell into the water once the Earthen Shield and the Fire Swallow disappeared. He quickly uploaded a BreakArea datasilver and broke a portion of space on the ground so the water would drain quickly. He gasped for air as he sat on the ground in front of the hole.

"Who was that...?" Manic asked Ryuu. He shrugged, then looked towards the figure materializing from the water. It was Tenjou Miyuu.

"Miyuu?" Manic and Ryuu asked as she shook water from her long hair.

"Tell me you didn't forget about me," Miyuu said skeptically. Manic and Ryuu exchanged glances before Manic remembered something vital.

Had she killed the criminals? If their cyberbands were depleted of energy in an internet lock zone, they could have died in the internet. Manic quickly checked his cyberband, but instead heard a brief message from Kinzoku.

"Guys, I got the lock disabled," Kin said, "but I see you've already taken care of the guys. I cuffed them and they're ready to be sent back to Netopia. Come back home."

Manic breathed a sigh of relief, along with Ryuu. Mission accomplished.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the train ride home, Miyuu was kneeling forward, twisting a small golden ring around her finger. Ryuu noticed this and leaned forward as well.

"So, you're married?" Ryuu asked.

"Yeah," Miyuu responded, "Er... I was married..."

"Were married?" Kinzoku asked, he and Manic picking up the conversation.

"Yes. I was married to Tenjou Amethyst," Miyuu started, "Amethyst was... a member of a Lucavi..."

"Lucavi... the Dark Knights..." Ryuu said in thought.

"Yes," Miyuu said, "Amethyst always took care of me, even when I wasn't even part of the Lucavi... but...but... they killed Amethyst after they found out that I was still alive... Amethyst was commissioned to kill me... because... because the Lucavi Minister willed it... I was spared, but... Amethyst... was killed..." Kin, Ryuu and Manic all felt Miyuu's pain at this moment. Kinzoku then put his hand on Miyuu's reassuringly.

"Don't worry, he's in a good place now..." Kinzoku said, "Naoko will take care of him... I promise..."

Miyuu then looked up to Kinzoku with a confused look. "Whoever said Amethyst was a man?"

Volume 2 Chapter 8 down. I'm sorry it left everyone on such a cliffhanger, but I'm hoping that I can get more chapters done more often, so please read and review! Thanks a lot! ^_^

...oh, and if you're wondering where you can get a more detailed description of the Sol Maxim weapons, you can find pictures of them in the Pictures section at 


	19. V2 ch 9: Holy Knights of the Lucavi

"Dammit!" Trinku yelled as he experienced a very rude awakening as he slammed against a wall. The beasts were enormous, there was no real way to defeat them with their current tactics.

"Trinku!" Tetsujin yelled in surprise as the beasts closed in on the six warriors. He readied the Inferno Glave in case either of the beasts were to attack. Koronenbu had been slammed into the opposite wall, still unconscious within the engraving one of the beasts made with Koronenbu's body. The other four were scattered along the street, dead. Tetsujin was their last chance.

The cobblestone road below Tetsujin's feet was being pounded upon by a hard rain. Tetsujin panted heavily in fear and exhaustion, ready to attack either of them. Just as they were ready to pounce upon Tetsujin, a voice yelled into the alleyway.

"Mek'halai!" Tetsujin quickly spun around and pointed the Glave at the figure, then gasped in shock, his eyes shot open.

"No...no, it... it can't... but you're only subject to the spiritual realm!" Tetsujin yelled in fear. The figure calmly walked towards him, but Tetsujin wasn't giving up his stance. Even through the rain, it seemed as if the figure's white robes weren't receiving a drop. Finally, the figure stopped in front of Tetsujin.

"Do nekijemane," the figure said in an indistinguishable tongue, "Tetsujin...Mi'ke re..."

Once the figure stopped, Tetsujin's eyes suddenly relaxed from fear and he stood up straight, the Glave disappearing within his hand. Now, Tetsujin's shock turned into confusion and denial.

"No... no, not yet... not now..." Tetsujin said in a quivering voice. He then looked the figure in the face. "It can't be..."

The figure then smiled. Its smile seemed both happy and sadistic, at the same time.

"It is over."

From outside the alleyway, the sound of flesh being torn off flesh could be heard distinctly.

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 9: Holy Knights of the Lucavi

*Wake up, Manic!* Infernos yelled to Manic mentally.

"Ngh..." Manic was still asleep and rolled over.

*GET UP NOW!*

"Wh... I'm up, I'm up..." Manic said groggily. He then rubbed his eyes. *You know, I'd love to sleep in once in a while...*

*Tough, I can't stay like this forever, I need to get out! It's early in the morning! Things to do, people to beat at Netbattling... that sort of thing!* Infernos was still ecstatic that he was released from the necklace.

"Wouldn't have gotten up anyways..." Manic said as he got out of bed to get dressed, "Challenge Hall's closed on weekends..."

Infernos then felt a pang of sadness. *What? It's closed!?*

*Yeah, it's always closed on weekends now...*

*...not fair...* Infernos replied in a sheepish voice.

The phone rang and startled Manic and Infernos a bit. Manic quickly hopped across the living room on one foot, putting on a sock, to answer the phone. After falling onto the ground halfway across the room, Manic quickly picked himself up and ran to get the phone.

"Hello?"

~Hey, it's me, Kin,~ the voice over the phone said. Manic hung up the phone, finished putting his sock on and stomped over to the door to his apartment and flung it open.

"Yeah, what'd you call for?" Manic said across the hallway. Kinzoku then opened up his apartment door with a smile of embarassment.

"You're a heavy sleeper, you know that?" Kin said in response. Manic merely rolled his eyes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Why'd the chief have us do work over the weekend?" Manic complained as he, Kin and Ryuu walked down the Marine Harbor sidewalk. The whole day had gone by since Kinzoku called Manic about work that day, and they were now all heading home. Miyuu had gone to the market to get some dinner and told them to just go home.

"Well, look at it this way," Ryuu said in response, "We're getting paid, at least..."

"Yeah, point taken," Manic said in response. They continued walking towards the Metroline until a sound caught Naoko's attention and Kinzoku halted. Manic and Ryuu followed suit and stopped in their tracks, only to avoid being in the way of a man running away from three iron-clad men. The man being pursued seemed to be in poor dress, his clothes in rags and running without shoes.

"On second thought, we're helping people too," Manic said as he then broke into a run to chase the four running individuals, along with Kinzoku and Ryuu. The poor man, the three pursuers and the three officials ran for a solid five minutes until the poor man mistakenly ran into a dead-end, where the three pursuers had stood at the entrance.

"Nowhere else to run," one of them said. Manic, Kinzoku and Ryuu were watching from the corner of the alleyway as they interrogated the poor person. However, Manic caught a better glimpse at the poor man and saw that he had long, brown hair.

"In the name of the sect, we must take you in," the man standing in the middle said menacingly.

"Down you go, Tin Man!" Manic yelled as he, Kinzoku and Ryuu tackled the three knightly men from behind. This easily started a brawl between the three iron-clad men and the three elites, everyone wrestling each other down. The man who Ryuu was keeping down managed to get an arm free and was able to toss Ryuu off him, and Ryuu went sailing towards the ground where the poor man was.

As Ryuu skid to a halt, he looked upwards to see who the poor person was.

"Miyuu?" Ryuu said, surprised. He, Manic and Kinzoku had all thought that Miyuu was a man, from the appearance of her clothes and the dirt on her face. It had been obvious she had been beaten up a bit, but she got free. And Ryuu was now filled with rage.

"That does it!" Ryuu yelled as he got back up and rammed his shoulder into one of the men, now fuming with anger.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"For the love of GOD," Massingale yelled at the four elites, who were sitting in chairs in his office, all beaten, bloody and sweating. Manic's lip was cut, Kinzoku had a large gash on his shoulder from the breastplate of the knight he was about to arrest, and Ryuu's shoulder still had a small piece of metal stuck into it. "What in the Hell gave you three the idea to attack the Lucavi!?"

"But Sir," Manic started, "We were wa--"

"I don't want to hear it!" Massingale shouted back and all four elites jumped. "Fact of the matter is, they were there, it was THEIR jurisdiction, and you guys violated it like grade school punks!" Massingale paced back and forth behind his desk again, still filled with rage. "I could have lost this entire establishment, not to mention my own freaking job, to the Lucavi because of you four!" The four elites hung their heads and Massingale could easily see that they were truly sorry. He finally sat down in his executive chair.

"Ryuu," the chief said. Ryuu raised his head to face the chief.

"Yes, Sir?"

"...Did you guys kick their asses?"

Immediately, the three men got up and started telling Massingale the play-by-play of the entire fight.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Man, what a day..." Manic said.'

"Yeah, no kidding..." Kinzoku responded with a yawn. Miyuu was still dressed in her torn clothing while Ryuu was trying to pick out that piece of metal and wincing every few seconds. They were currently walking away from the ACDC Metroline, pleased to hear that they were getting a bonus, albeit small, from Massingale as 'compensation for never doing that again.' Massingale promptly winked after he said the phrase to them.

"Well, I'm going home now," Ryuu said as he finally threw the metal piece down to the ground, "I'll see you guys later..."

"See you, Ryuu," Kinzoku, Miyuu and Manic said. Manic looked over to the setting sun and wondered why the Lucavi, the self-proclaimed Sect of Holy Knights.

"Well, I'm going to get something to eat," Kinzoku said, "I used to get so hungry after a fight. I'll see you guys later."

"Later," Manic said.

"Bye," Miyuu responded. Kinzoku then started walking towards the diner.

"Heh, I guess I still haven't broken that habit..." Kinzoku said as he walked off.

"Well, I shoul... hey, Miyuu," Manic said as he looked at Miyuu's torn clothing, "I'll make you some cocoa over at my apartment, come on."

"Ano..." Miyuu thought for a second, then looked down at her clothes. "Do you mind if I borrow a shirt? I don't really feel comfortable walking home alone like this..."

Manic chuckled a bit, "Sure, let's go."

The two made it back to Manic's apartment and he pointed Miyuu in the direction of where he kept his clean shirts and a pair of jeans and sandals for her to borrow as he went to the kitchen part of his apartment to make some hot chocolate.

"Hey Miyuu," Manic said as he poured some milk into two cups, "Who are the Lucavi, anyways?"

Miyuu came into the living room still wearing her rags, but holding a clean t-shirt and some jeans. "The Lucavi... well, they say they're Holy Knights, out to do good and all. Mostly, they keep to their name, but everything that they say they fight against, they do behind everyone's back. They're one of the most hypocritic sects in the world."

Manic looked up after putting the cups in the old microwave, "No kidding, what do they do?"

"Well," Miyuu started as she laid the pair of jeans over Manic's couch, "For one, I would have been killed if you three hadn't shown up..."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door that caught Manic's attention.

"Coming," Manic said to the person outside the door as he walked towards the door and unlocked it. Manic opened up the door to see Shinzuka there, with a smile on her face.

"Oh, hey Shinzuka," Manic said happily. However, Shinzuka's smile then turned into a gasp as she saw past Manic. Manic was still wondering why she was doing this.

"What? What's wrong?" Manic asked Shinzuka. However, she was now becoming angry, her face getting red. Manic started to worry, then looked to where Shinzuka was looking.

Miyuu was changing her shirt.

"Woah!" Manic said, then quickly shut the door behind him so that both he and Shinzuka were outside his apartment.

"Manic Grave!" Shinzuka said sternly to Manic, who was still bright red in the face. "Er... um... Shinzuka... erm... I ...hehe, I can explain this... I think..."

Shinzuka then saw Manic's face turn an even brighter shade of red as he rambled for a minute to Shinzuka about the situation. Shinzuka's anger then slowly dissipated and she just looked at Manic, who was still bright red and blushing.

"So, you just gave her your clothes?" Shinzuka asked Manic, with a little anger in her voice.

"Erm... yeah..." Manic said, then quickly caught himself, "Wait, no! I didn't give them, I-I let her borrow them! You know, so she wouldn't have to wear her clothe--I mean her torn-up clothes!"

*Smooth move, ex-lax,* Infernos snickered, *Good luck getting out of this one, I'm going to sleep...*

*Wait, no! No! Infernos!* Manic yelled mentally. Manic now felt like he had just lost a war and hung his head in defeat and sighed.

"Hehe, it's ok, Manic," Shinzuka said as the door opened up and revealed Miyuu wearing baggy jeans and a white t-shirt. She then walked down the hallway after patting Manic on the shoulder. Shinzuka then resumed talking to Manic and led him inside his own apartment. "I knew about Miyuu and Amethyst a long time ago."

Manic then raised his head as he slowly walked towards the microwave. After that ordeal, he really needed the hot chocolate now. "Really?"

"Yeah, I thought it was romantic," Shinzuka said as she spun on her heels dreamily. Manic walked towards Shinzuka with two cups and gave her one.

"So, any reason why you'd be here at this time of day?" Manic asked.

"Well, I just thought I'd drop by, say hi," Shinzuka said as she took a sip of hot chocolate, "Joseph was busy with his girlfriend and I was bored... you know..."

"Yeah..." Manic said as he took a sip. They both looked at each other for a second, then quickly looked away and moved onto a different topic of conversation. And another. And another. Hours passed as they talked about Netbattling, friends, people they'd met on the street and many other things.

"So... that's why we don't know who our mother was..." Shinzuka said quietly as Manic put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

"Don't worry," Manic said reassuringly, "I'm in the same position as you are."

"Why is that?" Shinzuka asked as she looked up into Manic's face.

"Well, when I was young, I lost my memory," Manic started, "I can't even remember who my parents were, or what they even looked like..."

"That's so sad... I'm sorry..." Shinzuka said. Manic then smiled and looked down at her.

"It's ok, I still have friends at least," Manic said. They both smiled as they moved closer together, slowly. Finally, their lips were almost meeting. Shinzuka had closed her eyes, ready for the big moment. Manic was starting to close his until the sound of a large metal door closed from across the hallway.

Both Manic and Shinzuka jumped at the noise and moved a little bit away from each other afterwards.

"Eh hehe," Manic said as he rubbed the back of his head, a little embarassed, "I guess Kin just got home."

"Hehe, it's really amazing that you two have apartments across the hall from each other," Shinzuka said with a small smile, "That's really good. Two best friends coincidentally across the hallway from each other."

"Hehe, I guess," Manic said. There was another silence as Manic and Shinzuka looked at each other again, their eyes meeting each other. Once again, they moved closer to each other.

Then a loud scream echoed throughout ACDC Town. Manic and Shinzuka quickly sprung up from the couch and ran to Manic's balcony and looked down.

"That sounded like Miyuu!" Manic said as he frantically looked everywhere, trying to find where the scream came from, as did Shinzuka. Finally, they heard the yelling again and a metal door slam shut.

"Who's yelling?!" Kinzoku asked Manic.

"It sounded like Miyuu, but I'm not sure..." Manic responded as Kinzoku looked down from the balcony as well.

"Look, over there!" Shinzuka said as she pointed towards five figures quickly walking down the street towards a van. The scene looked all too familiar to Manic.

"No!" Manic said. He recognized the people carrying a person to the van as the Lucavi.

"Come on, Kin, we're going!" Manic said as he walked towards the door with Kinzoku in pursuit.

"I'm coming too!" Shinzuka said, but was quickly halted by Manic.

"No, you aren't," Manic said sternly, "It's too dangerous. Stay here and call the others, we're getting Miyuu back."

Kinzoku and Manic quickly ran out the door and closed it behind them as Shinzuka stood there, watching them leave.

Volume 2 chapter 9 finished! Please read and review! Also, I have a quick question for everyone who likes reading my fic:

I'm thinking about compiling a special commentary on a few chapters that I packed with some symbolism and hidden meanings. If you feel interested, or you don't think it's a good idea, please tell me so in a review. If enough people are interested in it, I'll write up commentaries for select chapters for everyone to see. Thanks again!


	20. V2 ch 10: The Water Spirit

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 10: The Water Spirit

The old van sped down the streets of Electopia. Miyuu had her hands tied behind her back and was against the corner of the van as two of her kidnappers watched her intently.

*Amethyst...* Miyuu wished to herself, *Please... be here with me...*

Behind her back, Miyuu had gently rubbed a solid gold ring on her left hand. She knew who her captors were, the Lucavi, but there was only one other time that she had been this frightened.

Finally, after what seemed to be a short drive due to the driver speeding down the roads, the van had come to a sudden halt in an alleyway and Miyuu's captors forcefully picked Miyuu up and out of the van and into what looked like a run-down brick warehouse building from the outside. Inside, there were crates stacked everywhere, gathering dust from being neglected by the world. The knights had carried Miyuu through the barren maze of crates in the warehouse towards a handful of men dressed in black suits with one in the middle with crossed arms, standing as if he were their leader. The knights dropped Miyuu in front of the man and he looked at Miyuu through dark-tinted sunglasses. The man then looked up to the knights.

"You'll get your payment soon enough," the man said.

"Remember, none of this happened. Kill her quietly." The Lucavi Knights then started to walk away as the man had cracked his neck. His body mass was almost double that of Miyuu's, and his hair as black as night. Miyuu looked up and realized who the man was.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Miyuu!" Amethyst yelled as she sliced through another guard with her katana. Miyuu was being held by the neck by a tall man with a body mass of almost double Miyuu's own. Miyuu could feel the life draining out of her as she started to black out from lack of air.

"Tenjou Amethyst," the man said with evil, glaring eyes, "I have waited patiently for this day..."

"Let her go!" Amethyst cried angrily, "You're fight's with me!"

The man didn't let go of Miyuu's neck as he laughed at Amethyst. However, Amethyst finally made her move.

It was all over in a split second. Amethyst had performed a ninjutsu technique to quickly leap towards her opponent, but she was too slow to avoid the man's own katana as she sliced into his arm. Amethyst coughed up blood as she fell off the blade and onto the ground. Miyuu finally breathed in fresh air after the man had released his grip and took a step backwards, blood flowing from his arm.

Miyuu held the dying Amethyst in her arms, tears dropping onto Amethyst's lifeless face.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

"You..." Miyuu said with pure anger forming in her eyes. The man merely laughed as he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, three shinobi sliced the Lucavi Knights' heads off.

"That is my message to your sect," the man said with a smile on his face. Suddenly, Miyuu's hands were free from the ropes that were binding them and she immediately got up and swung a fist at the man.

"Murderer!" Miyuu yelled in anger at the man. However, the man merely caught Miyuu's fist and sent her backwards with one push.

"I still have unfinished business with you," the man said.

"Unfinished... business?" Miyuu stammered.

"Yes. I promised a friend that I'd kill every single member of the Tenjou bloodline," the man said, "And I intend to fulfill that promise."

Miyuu gulped, swallowing her fear and gathered enough courage to stand up into the man's face.

"You were Amethyst's only rival," Miyuu said, "and she'll be seeing you again soon enough..."

The man chuckled. Suddenly, two men had grabbed Miyuu's arms and strapped a cyberband to the back of her neck, sending her into the internet. The rest of the villians followed Miyuu into the internet shortly thereafter.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Any luck finding her?" Manic said quickly. Ryuu was still shaking off sleep as the officials ran through the ONBA databases, looking for any possible areas where Miyuu and her captors might have gone.

"Wait..." Kinzoku said quietly. He then looked over to Manic and Ryuu, "hey, come look at this!"

Manic and Ryuu quickly got up and went to the computer screen and saw what Kinzoku was telling them to see. A picture of a worn-down warehouse with an old van parked in an alleyway next to it.

"That's gotta be it," Manic said as he looked at the picture more closely.

"Did you check on any internet activity there?" Ryuu asked. Kinzoku frantically typed on the keyboard and statistics of the surrounding internet area appeared. Suddenly, it all stopped and displayed an error message.

"Damn," Kinzoku said, almost defeated.

"They must be using internet locks," Ryuu said. Manic quickly got up and started walking towards the door.

"We know where they are, let's check it out," Manic said hastily as the three officials had gotten ready to leave for the warehouse.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

(A/N: At this time, for the mood, please start up/find/DL "Beyond the Bounds" from the Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner soundtrack. It's the ending song to ZOE 2nd runner, in case anyone was wondering. Thank you.)

Miyuu skid back a few feet and landed on one knee, beaten and exhausted. Her breathing was heavy as the ninja merely looked at her, as if taunting her. Finally, the man who killed Amethyst stood amongst them and glared at Miyuu.

"You're weak," the man said, "You're nothing compared to Amethyst..."

Miyuu's heart was now hurting. How dare he speak of Amethyst, she thought. However, she felt a calm, gentle presence within her. However, she began to feel the presence even more, coursing through her entire body, but she tried to ignore it.

"Give up now," the man said, "you're not worth the effort of killing anymore."

However, the presence within Miyuu started to overwhelm her. Her head jerked forward as if she were in pain. She screamed in pain as she clenched at her heart, wanting for the pain to stop. However, she started to hear a faint voice within her. She tightly shut her eyes, trying to bear the pain.

*Miyuu,* the voice said, *We can beat them.*

*Hai...*

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and glared at her enemies with glowing, blue eyes, and suddenly rushed towards them.

(A/N: actual lyrics of the song begin here)

Miyuu quickly ducked under the katana of the first ninja and ran past while quickly moving between the ninja. Their attacks were too slow for her to get hit with, as she quickly avoided all the attacks. She finally saw an opening with one of the ninja and shoved her elbow into its face, then quickly and forcefully shoved the heel of her hand into its face, stunning him for a while. Miyuu then quickly surveyed the area while the voice kept talking inside her head.

*I can't do anything with these clothes,* the voice said to itself, *Too limiting...*

Miyuu dodged more attacks from the ninja, then quickly found herself ducking below a horizontal swipe from a katana. As soon as the sword passed her, she quickly shoved her elbow into the ninja's stomach and ran the opposite way and quickly stepped on one of the ninja's swords and quickly vaulted herself into the air above them all.

(A/N: first instrumental chorus starts here; right after the first set of lyrics)

Miyuu gracefully turned in the air as her clothes now became a flowing amethyst-colored kimono. Her hair now flowed gently through the air as deep purple highlights ran through it, materializing slowly into strands of her hair.

She was now ready to fight seriously. She did a flip in the air and landed on the ground in a kneel and quickly ran into the gathering of ninja again.

Miyuu quickly dodged a few katana cuts and grabbed one from the hand of a ninja. She quickly retaliated with her own cuts. She then skid to a halt and the katana handle twirled around her hand quickly, as if it were her own style of swordsmanship.

The man was standing away from the crowd for a second and saw Miyuu twirl the katana around in her hand. He had noticed that she had caught the handle once again, but a bit off from where her hand should have been. She had then disposed of two ninjas quickly, then disposed of three more with a quick flip from one's shoulder and took them down with a cut from the katana.

*Hmm...* the man thought to himself, *She's not used to those... her weakness...*

The man then quickly ran into the fray, after there were only three ninja still standing and conscious. Miyuu had quickly disposed of the three conscious ninja and quickly rolled to the side to avoid a quick cut from the man's katana. It had intricate designs down the blade and seemed to be cutting the air as it went. Miyuu quickly parried a few blows from the man, but the man delivered a strong cut, and Miyuu's katana was cut into two pieces.

She quickly looked at the severed blade, then jumped backwards and quickly backflipped, catching the handle of another katana and got into her fighting stance, with the blade to the side of her face. The man merely smirked, then quickly ran towards Miyuu again and swung with his blade. The two parried each others' attacks with extreme quickness, until both blades locked and Miyuu was able to push off the man and jumped high into the air.

Miyuu swung the sword diagonally twice as she went, sending quick waves of ice at the man as she swung. The man quickly rolled to the side of both of them and then ran towards Miyuu once she landed. Miyuu and the man once again exchanged blows, but the man got a few cuts in on Miyuu's arms. She quickly recoiled in pain, but then returned the strikes quickly, but the man was too quick for her. They both then started into a run while cutting at each other, then Miyuu shot her hand out to slow the man down with a blast of ice. However, the man was too quick for her and dodged the shot and broke through Miyuu's second katana. Miyuu then jumped backwards to get away from the man quickly.

Then she felt a hand gently rest on her shoulder.

As if in slow motion, Miyuu looked behind her and saw Manic jumping past her, a small glow emanating from his hand as he touched her shoulder.

*Tet...sujin?*

Manic then quickly shot past and out of the battle. However, the man stood still as he watched Miyuu glare at him with both her arms extended. Suddenly, a katana started to form in front of her hands. The handle was intricately decorated while the blade itself looked as if it would cut through anything at all. It emanated a faint ice blue glow as Miyuu gripped the handle. She then quickly twirled it around her hand and gripped it in the proper position, then ran towards the man once again.

Her reflexes were quick, but the man was able to block her attacks. However, once she was recovering from a cut, she bent down quickly and lunged towards the man with a powerful swing, breaking the man's own katana. Everything seemed to go in slow motion once again. The blade had been in mid-air while Miyuu was glaring at the man after the cut. The man quickly recovered from the hit and took a few steps backwards to get away from Miyuu. She merely stopped in her tracks and glared at the man.

"You're defeated," Miyuu said in a mixed voice. The man was still shocked from the dual voices coming from Miyuu, but Miyuu quickly ended the fight with a quick running cut through the man, sending him to the ground.

(A/N: Song end. Thank you.)

The man felt a deep cut in his torso, but couldn't feel blood coming from it. He wished the fight hadn't happened in the internet after all. He slowly got up and looked towards Miyuu. Her back was turned to him and her katana blade was turned sideways.

"You have lost," Miyuu said again in the mixed voice, "Run back to your leader and tell him that he will be next." Miyuu then glared at him over her shoulder with the same ice cold blue eyes again.

The man, in fear, quickly picked himself up and ran away, quickly pressing a button on his wrist and exited the internet. He had deactivated the internet locks. However, there was still a second person in the internet, watching Miyuu, and clapping.

"Nice work, Reiki," Infernos said through Manic, "You still remember how to win fights..."

"Why are you here, Tetsujin?" Miyuu said through her mixed voice. However, her voice was cold and chilling to the bone. Infernos winced a bit at this.

"Hey, just giving you a compliment, no need to take offense..." Infernos said, taking a step backwards. Miyuu's integration finally wore off, but she couldn't find the energy to stay awake and slumped to the ground, exhausted and asleep.

"Good work, kid," Manic said with a smile as he took off her cyberband, as well as his own, and appeared in the real world warehouse.

Kinzoku and Ryuu were already holding onto the man and Ryuu handcuffed him quickly.

"What happened in there?" Kinzoku asked, still struggling with the man.

"Miyuu took him down, along with his cohorts," Manic said calmly as he picked Miyuu up from the ground. "How's that guy doing?"

"He's still struggling," Ryuu grunted, keeping the man under control, "But we have him."

"Or so you think," the man said quietly. Suddenly, the man had kicked Ryuu out of the way and quickly leaped into the rafters in the roofing, disappearing into the shadows. Kinzoku and Ryuu were trying to follow the man with their eyes, but it was no use.

"Damn," Ryuu said as they had lost any trace of the man.

"Well, at least we got Miyuu back, crisis averted for now," Kinzoku said with a slight smile on his face.

"Yeah, that's true," Manic said in response, "Let's go home, I'm tired..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Where is he?" the leader's voice asked with a hint of anger.

"He's incompetent as ever, but he'll show up soon..." the calm voice said.

"Too bad Deuce had to die," Jack said with a chuckle, "But he did further our research time by that much."

The leader glared at the Jack. "I never wanted to lose anyone. That wasn't part of the plan."

The Jack recoiled a bit. "Hey, hey, just looking at a bright side. I know it was bad that he died, but look at what he gave us!"

"You should quit while you're ahead," the calm voice said, "You'll only make him angrier..."

Panting echoed through the room as the man who killed Amethyst arrived, breathing heavily.

"I'm... sorry I'm late..." the man said.

"About time, too," the calm voice said, "Did you kill her?"

The man shook his head, then suddenly felt a knife cut into his jugular vein. He gripped the wound, but fell to his knees.

"That's what you get for not killing a silly little girl, little brother," the calm voice said as the three watched the man die in front of them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Across the street in Akihara City, a man with dark red hair, baggy, khaki cargo pants and a form-fitting black t-shirt watched Ryuu, Manic and Kinzoku walk towards the Metroline station while sitting on a bench far away from them. Manic was still carrying Miyuu.

"They got number four," the man sitting on the bench said quietly into his wristwatch.

~That's good, Knux,~ the voice said over the watch radio, ~But we still have to keep an eye on the other two...~

"Yeah... and we still have no idea who they are yet..." Knux said again as he watched the three walk into the Metroline station.

~Well...~ the voice said over the radio, ~I have a pretty good feeling I know who the next one will be... so I'd like to take this one on my own...~

Knux thought for a moment, then smiled. "He's all yours, Miles..."

Volume 2 chapter 10 finished! Please read and review!


	21. V2 ch 11: The Invitation

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 11: The Invitation  
  
Miyuu woke up with a start from her nightmare. She had seen blood everywhere around her, and a sword in her hand. However, midway through the nightmare, a saving light, a warmth within her, comforted her and helped her through the nightmare.  
  
"What happened... and why did that seem so... real...?" Miyuu stammered as she sat up in bed.  
  
*Because it was a reality...* a voice within Miyuu's head stated. She looked around briefly, but then the window that looked into the lobby and the people there caught her attention. Manic was playing cards with Kinzoku while Ryuu slept outside of the room. She smiled.  
  
*They've been here for a while, you know,* the voice said again.  
  
*Who are you?* Miyuu asked timidly.  
  
*You have the same gift as they do, Miyuu,* the voice said calmly.  
  
*You mean... this is what... you're a...?* Miyuu stammered again.  
  
*Yes, I'm the deity of water. Call me Yui.* the voice said calmly.  
  
*Yui... my mother's name...* Miyuu thought.  
  
*Yes... I peeked into your past... it seemed that your mother was one of the few people who gave you comfort in life...*  
  
*Hai...* Miyuu thought. Before she could say what was on her mind, Yui already answered.  
  
*Using her name would only remind you of what happened to her. I'm sorry.* Miyuu immediately knew who she was talking about. Amethyst.  
  
*I see... you are right, I guess...* Miyuu then reached down to rub her engagement ring, but it was gone. She gasped and looked around for it until Yui spoke up.  
  
*The ring is inside you, I allowed your body to integrate it into yourself, so that I would be awakened within you... the sole heir to my power.*  
  
*Awfully confident of yourself, eh Yui?* Gaius spoke up as Ryuu finally woke up.  
  
*Yeah, ego trip right there,* Infernos spoke up.  
  
*Can it, you two,* Yui shot back fiercely. Gaius and Infernos wanted to laugh, but thought it would cause harm to Manic and Ryuu, so they held their laughs in. Miyuu finally found the strength to walk over and close the window curtains to change into her clothes.  
  
"Think she's fully healed yet?" Kinzoku asked as he laid down his cards, "Full House, by the way."  
  
"Damn," Manic responded as he put down a flush, "I don't know about now... but she'll be fine in a week or so..."  
  
"She's strong," Ryuu stated as he stretched and yawned. Miyuu then walked out of the room, wearing the clothes she borrowed from Manic the day before and smiled.  
  
"Thank you... for staying here... and waiting for me," Miyuu said.  
  
"No problem," Manic said.  
  
"That's what friends are for," Kinzoku added in.  
  
"You would have done the same for us," Ryuu added in as well.  
  
*Yui would have killed us if we weren't here,* Naoko said.  
  
*And by 'us,' you mean me and Gaius,* Infernos said happily.  
  
*I agree, we would have been killed.*  
  
Yui growled.  
  
"Let's go home," Manic said as he picked up the cards and stood up from the seats, along with Kin and Ryuu, and they all walked towards the elevator, heading for the exit to the hospital.  
  
The Metroline ride seemed short as Ryuu, Kinzoku and Manic explained what happened after Miyuu finally remembered most of what happened in the internet.  
  
"Why did Manic run by me and touch my shoulder?" Miyuu asked. Kin and Ryuu looked at Manic, who glared at them and turned to Miyuu to explain.  
  
"I did that to transfer the Sol Maxim over to you," Infernos said through Manic, "an integrated deity has to touch the Sol Maxim's essence once to have their weapon active, like in the cave when Manic handed the sword to Kin, or when Kin blocked one of Ryuu's kicks with his Naginata when they were fighting in the net."  
  
"I see..." Miyuu responded.  
  
*We both prefer katana,* Yui said mentally to Miyuu, *so, we got my Tidal Edge.*  
  
*Ah,* Miyuu said in response, *it's a powerful sword...*  
  
*Damn str... I mean yes, it is powerful,* Yui responded.  
  
The trip stopped and they all walked out and up the stairway out of the ACDC Metroline station.  
  
"I'm going to get some more sleep at home now," Miyuu said to the three, "Thanks again, see you later." Miyuu then walked towards the house she was staying at in ACDC while they watched her walk away.  
  
"I think I'll follow suit," Ryuu responded after a few seconds, "see you tomorrow..."  
  
"See ya," Manic responded.  
  
"Bye," Kin said. The two then walked towards the apartment complex and rode the elevator to the seventh floor. They both walked down the hall to their rooms while Naoko and Infernos talked about a televised fight they were watching in the hospital lobby while the three officials waited for Miyuu's recovery.  
  
"Well, I'm getting some sleep," Manic said as they walked down the hallway. Their rooms weren't far away now. "long, long day of virtually no sleep..."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Kin responded. They both grabbed their keys and got them ready to unlock their doors until they saw a note on each of their doors, a knife holding them onto the door.  
  
Manic quickly grabbed his from the knife and read it quickly, as Kinzoku did the same.  
  
~Deity,  
  
There is a tournament in four weeks called the Bandit's Cove. You and the others have been labelled as the guest entrants, and your presence is mandatory, dead or alive. You know what the tournament rules are, but here is the new rule for this year:  
  
` Face Value: the all weapons rule still exists, but the hosts for this year's tournament has taken the initiative to create special datasilver for this tournament, making them have the same effect in the real world. However, one must know how to transfer datasilver data to an ordinary-looking card, and only a select few know of how to do it. Good luck. '  
  
On the tournament day, meet in Akihara City, where all entrants will be taken to the tournament site, still unnamed.  
~Bandit's Cove hosts  
  
Kin and Manic exchanged confused looks as they finished reading their letters.  
  
"Presence is mandatory?" Kinzoku asked.  
  
"Dead or alive?" Manic asked as well.  
  
*This isn't good...* Naoko said.  
  
"What do you mean, 'this isn't good'?" Kinzoku asked aloud.  
  
"Well," Naoko said through Kinzoku, "Bandit's Cove was created by the most fearsome fighters in the world a long time ago. However, because they abolished any form of netbattling, they keep to their blood and gore traditions."  
  
"Meaning that if we lose there..." Manic said.  
  
"We die..." Infernos responded through Manic.  
  
"Isn't this great?" Kinzoku said with a bit of anger.  
  
"Wonder if the others got something like this..." Manic said as he leaned against his door.  
  
*No doubt,* Infernos responded.  
  
"Well, there's no point in wondering what's going to happen there," Naoko said, "but the tournament starts in four weeks. We should use this time wisely and prepare for the contest."  
  
"Ok, how do we prepare?" Kinzoku asked with his own voice.  
  
"Well," Infernos spoke up, "the all weapons rule is just that, any and all types of weaponry are allowed. So choose your best and train..."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Volume 2 chapter 11 finished, and on a big cliffhanger. But I will get the next chapter up soon. Read and Review, please? 


	22. V2 ch 12: The Quest and the Trials

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 12: The Quest and the Trials

The netbattlers invited to the Bandit's Cove Tournament had all met in the ACDC Park, however, one was missing.

"Hey, where's Manic?" Ryuu asked. Shinzuka was there to watch as her brother, Joseph, and the other three invited Iron-Fisted Few stood there to wait.

"He wasn't in his apartment when I was leaving," Kinzoku said in response, "so I thought he was here already."

"Maybe he went to get something?" Miyuu responded.

"Hey, sorry to butt in," Joseph said, with reassuring nods from the present elites, "but why don't we just start training and he can show up when he shows up?"

"Good idea, we had better not waste any more time," Ryuu said in response as he reached for his cyberband.

As Kinzoku reached behind his neck to attach his cyberband, a hand came between Kinzoku's neck and the cyberband. Kinzoku's fighter instinct immediately kicked in and made an unsuccessful grab for the hand and pivoted to see who it was.

"You children honestly think the Bandit's Cove is about a netbattle?" the man said. He had long, red hair with cobalt eyes that seemed to pierce the soul. He appeared to be in his late twenties, and showed scars and wounds from fights from long ago. He also dressed in a sleeveless black vest over a black tanktop and wore baggy shorts covered in chains.

"Who are you?" Ryuu and Joseph said at the same time. Jet had stepped ahead of Derek and Taichi to seem more threatening, due to his tall stature. However, the man did not seem to be phased at all by them.

"Doesn't matter right now," the man said, his eyes unmoving and fixed on Ryuu, who took a small step backwards to defend himself if there were an attack coming. "but from the looks of it, none of you have even heard of Bandit's Cove."

"Well, then," Shinzuka said while she took a step forward, "why not tell us what it's about?"

The man immediately focused his glare on Shinzuka, who tried her best to equally match his. "Fine, little girl. But I don't remember seeing a second woman's name on the entry list." Shinzuka's glare immediately vanished and she took a step backwards, shocked that he knew who was accepted into the tournament already.

"How did you--" Joseph started in defense, but was cut off by the man.

"Do you want to know what it's about, or do you want to focus on the unimportant things all day?" the man snapped back. "Bandit's Cove takes place in the real world, meaning that whatever you have in terms of power in the internet, it's useless. Any weapon is allowed into the contest, though, so make sure you're good at using it."

"This sounds fairly dangerous to the untrained..." Kinzoku said aloud in thought.

"...an easy way to kill us off... do you know who invited us to the tournament?" Ryuu asked the man. The man, however, merely rolled his eyes in irritation.

"No, I don't know, and I don't really give a damn who did," the man snarled back, "Like I was saying, you'll need more training in the real world if you want to stand a chance in Hell of surviving this contest."

"Is that why you're here? To train us?" Derek uttered as he and Taichi stepped forward and to the side of Jet.

"No, I'm here just to tell you that you're all going to die," the man said as he rolled his eyes.

"So when does the training start?" Taichi asked.

"Right now. Follow me." the man said, and he turned around and walked towards the exit of the park.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

*Why are we climbing a mountain again?* Manic asked as he almost lost his footing on the steep hill. He was carrying a small backpack and walking against a fairly strong wind uphill.

*Because I know about Bandit's Cove,* Infernos responded, *So we're going to see a good friend of mine... even though I don't need the training, you sure as Hell do...*

*Training in what?" Manic asked as he almost reached the top of the hill. However, there were two more hills to cross, and he was starting to lose his breath in this altitude.

*Training in whatever I think you need training in for the tournament,* Infernos replied simply, *Besides, most of the stuff you learn from this guy is invaluable. You'll love me for it.*

*I just hope we're not on a wild goose chase...* Manic replied as he started downhill a short ways and the up the second hill. It took about half an hour to climb the hill, but the final hill was now in sight, and Manic could barely make out a small house-like building on top of it. Manic finally started to climb the hill. It was the steepest hill he had encountered yet, but if Infernos said was correct, it would be worth it.

*Man, I haven't seen the guy in forever...* Infernos said, wondering about the person they were going to see, *that guy must be older than dirt...*

*How do you know he hasn't died from old age yet?* Manic asked as he climbed the hill.

*Just a hunch... just a hunch...* Infernos said.

Finally, Manic was nearing the top of the mountain. He walked more calmly, due to the atmosphere, and towards the building. It now looked more and more like a dojo of sorts with open doors into it. Once Manic was nearer, he could see an old man sitting cross-legged in the middle of the dojo, a small bowl to the side of him, burning incense.

"Ah, a visitor..." the old man said as he fiddled with the incense.

"Good to see you again, old man," Infernos said through Manic's voice.

*Why'd you say that?* Manic said mentally, *I've never met him in my life! He won't even know who I am!*

However, the man immediately stopped tending the incense and slowly looked towards Manic.

"...yes, it has been a long time, Tetsujin, how do you fare?" the old man said. As Infernos walked closer towards the dojo, Manic could see that the old man had a lot of muscle, even for his age.

"Name's Infernos, now," Infernos said as he kicked off Manic's shoes and set them and the backpack outside the dojo and walked inside slowly. However, just as Infernos set a foot onto the bamboo mat, a small dart shot straight at him. However, Infernos quickly leaned to the side and caught the dart between his two fingers.

"You may have a new name," the old man said with a smile as Infernos controlled Manic's body to walk towards the man and sit on the mat, dropping the remaining piece of incense from his fingers, "but your reflexes haven't dulled at all..."

"Koro," Infernos started, "What say we get down to business?"

"Indeed, my friend," Koro started. However, before he could talk, Manic regained control of his voice to ask a question.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but who are you and why am I here?" Manic asked abruptly. Koro laughed a bit.

"It's an honest question, young lad, and I'd be happy to answer. Your friend Te...Infernos and I go back a long time. No doubt, Infernos brought you here to train under me."

"That brings up another question..." Manic started, "How did you know who Infernos was?"

Koro laughed, as well as Infernos. "Well, a long time ago, I was chosen by the deity of earth, like you are the chosen for the deity of fire, Infernos. My full name is Tanekai Koronenbu, and my deity was the deity of earth, Genki. He named himself after what brought me the most joy at the time, my faithful dog."

"He's Gaius now," Infernos said.

"Oh, his name has changed as well," Koro said with a small laugh.

"All of our names have changed to fit our hosts," Infernos replied.

"Except yours, of course," Koro said jokingly.

"What do you mean?" Manic asked, still a bit confused.

"Well, to aid with integration, the deities choose the name of that which calms their host the best, mostly for a faster integration..." Koro explained.

"Except for me," Infernos said proudly, "Because if you can integrate with me, you deserve it."

Koro laughed. "Yes, Infernos has always been like that. He's also had a special affinity for the name Ifrit."

"Gah!" Infernos replied while both Koro and Manic laughed.

"Ok, when you two are done laughing, we have work to do," Infernos said. Immediately, Koro stopped laughing, Manic stopping a moment later.

"Yes, you are correct..." Koro said. "What, may I ask, is the occassion this time?"

"Bandit's Cove," Infernos stated. Koro's gaze immediately turned serious.

"Then we have no time to waste. Follow me." Koro then stood up quickly, despite his body mass, and walked to the side of the dojo. Manic quickly followed. Koro had slid a door to the side to reveal an entire collection of melee weapons.

"Choose one for now, and we will train with it until I feel you have mastered it," Koro said as he took a step backwards, "This will teach you to better work with Infernos when the time arises."

Manic looked through the arsenal. Broadswords almost as tall as he was, nunchaku, katana, shuriken, and countless other weapons. However, one weapon seemed a bit out of place; a long-barrelled semi-automatic handgun. Manic shoved the thought out of his mind for now and carefully grabbed a katana.

"Wise choice for the beginner," Koro said as he reached behind him and took out a pair of nunchaku and spun them around his arms for a second, then readied against Manic.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kinzoku's body smashed through another crate.

"Get up, we still have more to do!" the man yelled at him. Kinzoku was slowly getting used to combat again, although the pain still seared through his body.

Slowly, they were all learning how to take damage from attacks, and how to deal to their opponents. At the beginning, they all learned basic hand-to-hand combat, Ryuu did well at this, then went to swordfighting, of which Miyuu, Joseph and Kinzoku excelled above the rest at, due to their real-life experiences with the blade. Then they all moved on to dodging gunfire and how to determine the opponent's next attack and plan of action. Signs of weariness started to show on all their faces, as they had not stopped for rest in an entire day. However, they all had been in that warehouse training for well over a week by now. However, it would only be a matter of time until they would have to be ready for the greatest fights of their lives. The fights for their very lives.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

V2 chapter 12 finished! Please read and review? Thanks a lot! ^_^


	23. V2 ch 13: Netopian Drug Life

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 13: Netopian Drug Life

It was a cold day in Netopia, but that couldn't stop them from business. They had come all the way from Electopia for this, this was their only time to do it. They had to make it count.

"So, where was this guy again?" Enkou asked the tall, brown-haired individual walking next to him.

"He's in a parking garage somewhere," the man replied. Their trenchcoat tails barely scraped the ground as they walked towards the dank garage, the wind picking up the ends a little. Once they walked inside, the wind stopped the trenchcoats from blowing as GC and Enkou slipped by the security booth at the front.

"They're here already?" Enkou asked GC, but GC immediately hushed Enkou up by lowering his hand in front of Enkou. Their footsteps resonated through the garage, but they both stopped in the middle of the garage.

"Dostenheim... Gentlemen," the man standing a distance away from GC and Enkou said in Netopian. He wore a business suit under a gray coat while the seven bodyguards behind him wore black business suits as well.

GC and Enkou didn't understand what he said, and, as the man thought, neither would he. They immediately took out their cyberbands and pressed a small button on them and put them onto the backs of their necks.

"As I said, welcome, gentlemen," the man said, still in a foreign accent.

"Pleasure to be in Netopia, Navarro," Enkou said with an icy stare.

"Let's get to business, shall we, 'Dragoneye'?" GC said coldly. Navarro had sucked on a toothpick he had in his mouth, then snapped his fingers and one of the bodyguards handed Navarro a metallic briefcase. GC produced a small, flat box from his trenchcoat as well. He touched the small box to the cyberband on his neck and showed Navarro what was on the screen as Navarro opened the suitcase and put it down, now holding two medicine bottles, one in each hand.

"That's the amount we agreed upon," Navarro said as he read the screen GC held up.

"I must be getting a deal, then," GC said just as coldly as he did before as he put away the screen.

"Ah, you only get one of these," Navarro said, "but since I'm such a nice person, I'm giving you a choice." GC and Enkou snapped their attention quickly towards Navarro directly.

"This bottle," Navarro said as he held the bottle in his right hand up slightly, "contains the stuff we made a deal on. Once a dose is taken, the user can alter code on the internet and delete any person with a prolonged touch. It also, I might add, has the ability to lock down your target's ability to use any datasilver upon touch."

"And the other bottle?" Enkou said as coldly as he could.

"The other bottle," Navarro said as he held up the bottle in his left hand now, "has our newest production. It will severely increase the speed of the user in the internet and locks down the surrounding internet area once the user is in the cybersystem. The only way it can be diminished is if the user leaves the net or once the drug has worn off." Navarro cleared his throat for what he was to say next. "Now, we agreed upon only one of these, so choose which one you want."

Navarro glared at GC and Enkou as they turned towards each other to figure this out.

"Ok," GC whispered to Enkou, "Do your worst..."

"Gotcha..." Enkou replied. He then cracked his knuckles behind his back and looked towards Navarro as he cleared his throat.

"I speak for my partner in crime here," Enkou started as he was about to take a step forward, "when I say we want the del--"

"You idiot!" GC yelled at Enkou as he pulled him back by the collar. Enkou then glared at GC.

"You're a real idiot, you know that!?" Enkou yelled to GC, who glared back. "We came here for that, the other drug they made was to throw us off! I know I'm right, so back the Hell off!"

"You don't boss me around, punk," GC yelled in response, "I do whatever the Hell I want to, and I'm taking the sp--"

"Thinking about yourself all the time, you speed freak!" Enkou retorted as Navarro and his bodyguards laughed, "At the rate you're running the show, Worl--"

"Don't you even think about finishing that sentence, kid!" GC yelled back as he grabbed Enkou by the collar and lifted him up from the ground. Enkou kept his glare focused on GC and slugged GC, which made him let go of Enkou. He straightened out his trenchcoat once he landed on the ground.

"I'll do whatever I want, bitch," Enkou said as he walked over to Navarro as GC picked himself up from the ground. Enkou immediately grabbed the bottle in Navarro's right hand and started to walk back to where GC was, but he felt an arm grab his and he was immediately thrown to the ground.

"Gah!" Enkou yelled as the bottle dropped from his hand. GC merely glared at the scene happening in front of him. Three of Navarro's bodyguards were holding down Enkou as Navarro calmly walked around him.

"Now, Mr. Criscuolo," Navarro said to GC, "I feel that your 'partner in crime' as he so put it, has embarassed me in front of my men. To make up for this," Navarro paused to pick up the bottle of drugs that Enkou had dropped, "I expect double of what you were to pay today for one of these... and I want it now. I know you can get me these funds in that amount of time, so get to it."

GC merely laughed, which made Navarro cock an eyebrow.

"Do you laugh at the loss of your own money?" Navarro asked.

"No, I laugh at the mess you're in," GC said as he fixed his glare on Navarro.

Navarro laughed, "What mess? I believe I have more than enough people here to kill you AND Mr. Yobuu here. Does that make you frightened?"

"Not at all," GC said with a smirk.

"Why is that?"

There was a silent pause for a second.

"Because four of your men are already dead."

Navarro gasped at GC's words and he immediately spun around to see. There were two people, one man and one woman, dressed all in black, standing over four bloody corpses of Navarro's former bodyguards. Enkou smirked as he saw Navarro's shocked look and immediately kicked behind him and threw the other two bodyguards off him to get free. Once two of the bodyguards decided to capture Enkou again, he was ready for them, and cut at their throats and chests with a balisong(butterfly knife), killing them as well. However, one of the bodyguards had snuck up from behind and tried to grab Enkou by the throat and put him into a choke hold, but the woman assassin was too quick, and snapped his neck before he could lay an arm on Enkou. Finally, after a while, the male assassin quickly threw Navarro to the ground and knelt on top of his stomach and held a knife to his throat.

"Gah..." Navarro gasped, "What is this!?"

"Didn't expect something like this to happen, didja?" the male assassin said with a cocky smile on his face. Navarro tried to gasp for air, but he couldn't due to the weight on him. However, before the male assassin could go for the kill, a metallic yo-yo had immediately snapped towards Navarro's head and damaged Navarro's right temple, killing him.

GC had snapped his wrist to the side and the metallic yo-yo had quickly sailed through the air and returned to his hand. The male assassin had looked up to GC with a defeated look on his face.

"Aww," the man said, "I was going to have some fun with him, too..."

"You know, Andy," GC said as he walked towards Navarro and picked up both bottles of drugs, "killing isn't supposed to be for sport..."

"Tch, I know..." Andy said with a smirk as he got off the dead corpse.

"So, GC," the woman said, "is that all we came for?"

"No, Shiro," Andy replied as he rolled his eyes, "We came for the food... yeah, this is all we came for, right GC?"

"No, actually..." GC responded as Enkou rubbed his neck.

"What'cha looking for, then?" Enkou asked.

"Well," GC said as he pulled a note from Navarro's jacket pocket, "You remember that Bandit's Cove tournament I told you about?"

"Yeah, wh--" Enkou was interrupted by the letter that GC threw at him, which he immediately caught. He opened it up to see what was written.

"Well, now you're going, as 'Dragoneye' Navarro, under my team," GC said as he stood up again. Enkou looked up at GC with a smile.

"Nice, I get to go now!" Enkou responded as his arm twitched a little.

"Let's get going," GC said as he turned around and Andy and Shiro followed him. GC then stopped and turned his head towards Enkou.

"Did I answer your question?" GC asked. Enkou looked at GC confused.

"What question?"

"You asked me if they were here yet... and they are..." GC then motioned to both Andy and Shiro. Enkou then got it and smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, cocky..." Enkou left his sentence open as he followed GC, Andy and Shiro out of the garage.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Well, day's come," Joseph said as he yawned and stepped into the family room, followed by Shinzuka. His father, Edric, was reading the newspaper at the table. Joseph had to be tricky about this, so he quietly walked towards the mantlepiece over the fireplace. The family sword had hung there, the sword of a long and famous line of mercenaries. It had now belonged to them. He quietly picked up the hilt of the sword and gripped the side of the blade with two fingers and lifted it up.

"Joseph, what're you doing with that sword?" Edric asked as he sipped his coffee and read his newspaper. Joseph looked to his dad and his mouth hung open. No way.

"Um, I..." Joseph started as he quickly took the sword off and walked towards his father.

"You...yes?" Edric asked calmly. Joseph sighed.

"I was invited to a tournament and I thought I could borrow the sword... I'll go put it back now..." Joseph then turned around and started to walk towards the fireplace again.

"Hmm... ok, have fun," Edric calmly again. Joseph stopped in his tracks.

"Woo hoo!" Joseph said in excitement as he grabbed the sheath leaning against the mantle and sheathed the sword, put it across his waist and grabbed his backpack next to the door.

"Well, see you later, Dad," Joseph said with a smile as his father slightly nodded as Joseph walked out the door.

A few seconds later, Shinzuka had walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Hey Dad, did Joseph leave yet?" Shinzuka asked as she poured herself some orange juice.

"Yeah, you just missed him..." Edric answered.

"Oh, then you know about the Bandit's Cove tournament..." Shinzuka said happily as she put the bottle of orange juice back into the refrigerator. Edric slowly sipped on his coffee, then choked and spit the coffee onto the newspaper he was reading.

"WHAAAT!?!?!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The fighters, minus Manic still, stood at the Marine Harbor pier. The mysterious man who had trained them in fighting was standing there as well, staring at the sea. The fighters were surrounded by a large group of thugs, bandits and other henchmen waiting for the ship.

"Where's Manic?" Kinzoku asked impatiently.

"He'll be here..." Ryuu said in response, meditating as best he could within the crowd while trying to stay on the defensive.

"I agree... he'll be here, he wouldn't miss out on this..." Joseph replied. He then looked to the others. "Ok, so we all know our teams, right?"

"Yeah," Taichi responded, "We went over this a million times..."

"Teams of four with one substitute, got it..." Derek said, a bit annoyed. Jet nodded in agreement, seeing as how he was mute.

"And tall, dark and brutal over there's our sub," Joseph said, "And I'm sub for Ryuu's team..."

"You may have to be a regular on our team, at this rate..." Miyuu said with disdain, "doesn't look like Manic's going to show up..."

"Hey missie," a large thug had said to Miyuu, "you look like you're easy enough to kill... how about we get a pre-game fight going?" Miyuu glared at the thug and reached for her katana, but she immediately stopped as she heard a voice from behind the large brute.

"I wouldn't advise that, she's pretty fierce with a sword."

"Who sa--ACK!" the thug then immediately hit the floor to reveal Manic standing in front of the group. His clothes were torn up a little, his white shirt under his hawaiian shirt revealed splotches of blood scattered everywhere, and there were bruises on Manic's face and arms. However, he was holding nunchaku in a defensive stance while a ninjato was strapped across his back and a gun holster slung across his waist.

"Manic, long time, no see!" Joseph said with excitement. Manic stood up straight and held the nunchaku in one hand and held them out to Ryuu.

"Here, I got you a souveneir from my training," Manic said with a smile. Ryuu thanked Manic for the weapon, but Gaius was starting to get choked up.

*What's wrong, Gaius?* Ryuu asked mentally.

*These...* Gaius started, *these are Koro's nunchaku...*

*Who's Koro?* Ryuu asked.

*I'll explain later... he was an old friend of mine...* Gaius said.

"So, when does the boat show up?" Manic asked Kinzoku.

"I'd say..." Kinzoku looked at his cyberband's built-in watch, "just about now..."

Sure enough, the boat arrived on time. The back end of the boat lowered and opened up for all the fighters to enter. The contest was about to start.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

V2 chapter 13 complete! Read and review, please?


	24. V2 ch 14: The Voyage to Bandit's Cove

Manic enthusiastically dragged Old Pops down the grassy field towards the isolated house near the cliff overlooking Marine Harbor. He was only fourteen at the time, but he was strong enough to pull the old man towards the house with vigor.

"We're almost there!" Manic said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, not so fast, Manic, we'll get there," Old Pops said with a smile as well. They slowed their pace while they walked up the wooden porch steps to see a man sitting on an antique rocking chair. He wore black sunglasses and had a wheat grain in his mouth. Manic looked at the man after peering inside the house.

"Um, excuse me mister," Manic asked, "but where's the family that was living here?"

"Oh?" the man said as he kept rocking on the chair, "That family moved away... or at least that's what the rumors were..."

Manic was now crestfallen. All he had worked for to find where his family was, now seemed to be all in vain.

"Wh...where did they move to?" Manic asked the man.

"Don't know... they just picked up, one day, and left... simple as that..."

"Oh..." Manic said as his head fell. "Thank you..."

Manic and Old Pops then walked off the front porch to the house.

"Manic!" a voice yelled to him. Everything seemed to get darker.

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

"Hey, Manic!"

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 14: The Voyage to Bandit's Cove

"Manic, wake up!"

"Huh?" Manic stirred from his dream and saw who was waking him up. He had been utterly exhausted from the training he had done with Koro. The pain was excruciating, but the knowledge he learned from it was well worth it. "What's the problem?" Manic asked, groggily.

"They're giving an announcement for the tournament," Kinzoku said as he pointed towards the intercom that was hanging on the main cabin wall of the ship. The ship was immense, with the cabins and bridge in the center building.

~To all participants, here are the current teams on board the Electopian Vessel:

Team Viper

Team Ironfist

Team Kimitsu

Team ZX-One

Team Oni...~

To Manic and the rest of the elites, it seemed as if the list of names droned on from the announcer.

~...Team Deity

Team Maverick

and Team Nightstrike. If you will notice, there are sixteen teams currently on board the Electopian Vessel, the same as the other three vessels, the Netopian, Northern Republic and Eurasia. However, if you will all notice with your invitations, there are sixteen teams total in the tournament.~

There was a quiet unrest among the rest of the passengers. Most of them tried to figure out what was going to happen, while some of them already knew what was going to happen.

~As many of you have figured out from the previous tournament, the ride towards Bandit's Cove is the preliminaries. Each team, choose one participant to compete in the preliminary. The top four participants representing their team will move on to Bandit's Cove. To all those who lose, good try, we will go back home. Thank you, and good luck with the preliminaries.~

"Preliminaries..." Ryuu said in thought as he wondered what this meant.

"This can't be good..." Joseph said in response as he looked around the boat and at all the rogues on board. They all seemed to have a bloodlust now, due to the announcement, and they were all preparing for the tournament.

"Seems we can't back down from this fight..." Ryuu said as he stood up from his seat against the sideboard of the ship.

"Wait, Ryuu," Manic said as he leaned forward, "You're going to fight for us?"

Ryuu looked back and gave Manic and Kinzoku a thumbs-up. "I won't lose to them, trust me." Ryuu then walked towards the middle of the ship, where it seemed the rest of the fighters were gathering. The mysterious man who had trained Joseph, Kinzoku and company was fighting for Team Ironfist.

~Well, it seems as all the participants have been chosen.~ There was a long pause from the announcement.

~Now, representing Team Viper is...~

Manic stopped paying attention to the announcer as he took off his hawaiian shirt and his bloodied white undershirt, reached into his small backpack, and put on a new set of clothes. He now wore a gray shirt under a dark blue hawaiian shirt, left unbuttoned. Kinzoku had been dressed in his hakama with both his katana and a wakizashi, both resting next to him as he, Manic and Miyuu watched the fighters prepare for the oncoming fight.

~Next, representing Team Ironfist, their substitute... Klove Bartlett, a veteran of the first Bandit's Cove tournament...."

Joseph had looked towards the mysterious man. They now knew his name and how he knew so much about the tournament.

The announcer went on with the names until Manic heard the word 'Deity' mentioned.

~The young Seitamashii Ryuu. I must also state that Ryuu, along with the rest of his team, are the honorary guests of the supporters of this year's Bandit's Cove tournament...~

Manic noticed that the fighters of all the other teams had now started to glare evilly at he, Miyuu and Kinzoku. It seemed as if being the honorary guest wasn't such an honor after all.

"Be on your guard..." Miyuu said as she slowly reached for Amethyst's katana, which she had been taking care of for a long time.

Finally, the name roll call had finished.

~Participants, on your mark...~

Ryuu's attention snapped towards the fray as he reached behind his back for an instant.

~...and BEGIN!~

Suddenly, the sixteen participants had leapt into the fray, fighting for the top positions. Ryuu was utilizing his knowledge of martial arts to down as many opponents as he could that tried to attack him. However, it seemed as if Ryuu's strategy would stop working soon as they all started to cut into each other. Klove, however, looked as if he was winning the bout as he cut through various opponents with two shimmering sickles, one in each hand.

"Kid! Don't just stand there!" Klove yelled at Ryuu as the mass of fighters started to overtake Ryuu.

"Gah!" Ryuu let out as he felt a knife cut into his forearm as he threw down another opponent. The number of opponents was dwindling slowly, leaving Klove as a clear-cut winner. However, Ryuu had to resort to the nunchaku that Manic gave him to fend off the opponents more. However, Gaius was in control of the nunchaku now.

"That's it," Gaius said as the crowd backed off. There were eight left, waiting to kill him. Gaius then spun the nunchaku around his body and stopped in a defensive stance, awaiting the others. He then noticed two of the men whispering to each other.

"...if we kill the guests... then we get a bonus..." one man said to the other, who nodded. It seemed as if everyone else, minus Klove, had the same idea, and lunged towards Ryuu, while the other teams had lunged towards the rest of Team Deity.

"Damn!" Manic shouted as he pistol whipped one of the men in the mouth, sending him down instantly. Kinzoku and Miyuu were already standing at ready with their swords, along with Joseph and the rest of the Iron-Fisted Few. Ryuu and Gaius were easily warding off the combatants with Koro's nunchaku as they all fought.

"Kya!" Miyuu yelled as she blocked one of the fighter's attacks with her katana. She then kicked the man in the stomach and cut into the man's arm. He fell to the deck, gripping his appendage while Miyuu glared at the man.

"Miyuu!" Kinzoku yelled to her as he hit a thug next to the deck in the chin with his katana sheath, "Don't kill! That'll just lower ourselves to their level!"

"Hai!" Miyuu yelled in response as Jet picked up the man Miyuu fell silently and threw him overboard. Jet was fighting with a large broadsword while Derek and Taichi were fighting with knives on the other side of the ship, defending Team Deity as well.

"Come on!" Joseph yelled as he hit another man overboard with the side of his sword.

"Grah!" Manic yelled as he quickly rushed through three of the men, using the blunt side of his ninjato to injure them.

During the fighting, Kinzoku was keeping watch as to see if they were about to land soon. However, after he threw another fighter into the ocean, he saw land.

"We're coming near!" Kinzoku yelled to the others, "Just a little longer!"

The announcer's voice couldn't be heard over the combat on board as the number of combatants on board dwindled rapidly. Many of them were being thrown overboard while some of them were killed by other combatants with a thirst for blood. However, a short moment passed, and all the combatants, save for Team Deity, Team Ironfist and two other men, were defeated. Manic sighed as he picked up the sheath to his ninjato and slung it over his back as he sheathed his sword.

"Hell of a workout..." Manic said spitefully as he sheathed his sword. The rest of them had done the same as they waited for the ship to land.

"No kidding..." Ryuu said in agreement as Gaius slid the nunchaku into Ryuu's belt again. Klove had already sheathed his sickles and watched as land came into sight. The two men left from other teams were standing in the back of the ship, one of them the leader of his team, Team Oni, watching as his men swam towards shore while the other, the leader of his team, Team ZX-One, was sitting in a chair. He was a short, pudgy man with white, balding hair. He silently laughed to himself as he watched Team Deity defend themselves.

"Guess my work will be done once I face them..." the old man said to himself with a chuckle.

~Erm... um... ahem... the winning four teams are...

Team Ironfist

Team Deity

Team Oni

and Team ZX-One.

And just in time, too! We are nearing shore, where our teams will be let off to compete in the tournament tomorrow morning! Good luck to all of you.~

The Electopian vessel had beached on shore and the fighters walked onto the shore. The leader of Team Oni had been the last to come off the boat and walked towards his teammates, drenched in water, but they were all ready to fight.

"Where do we go now?" Joseph asked the others as he looked around the island. The area was desolate. No buildings could be seen, no trees, just sand for miles. Manic squinted his eyes as he looked at the desert.

"Guess we have to walk..." Kinzoku said after a moment of silence as he picked up his pack and started walking. The rest of Team Deity and Ironfist had started walking as well through the desert.

It had only been a few minutes through the desert until they had come across a large stadium-like building with a three-storied hotel to the right of it. The stadium seemed to be empty while there were signs of life at the hotel.

"I guess that's where we're staying..." Miyuu said as she pointed towards the hotel. Klove laughed to himself.

"What's so funny?" Joseph asked.

"Nothing, just brings back old memories..." Klove said in response as he led the group towards the hotel. He then stopped and looked back at the group. "I warn you now. Be prepared for tomorrow, your first fight begins."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Volume 2 Chapter 14 finished. Read and review, please?


	25. V2 ch 15: Hotel Chambert

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 15: Hotel Chambert  
  
"This is a big crowd..." Ryuu struggled to say within the mass of people crowding the front door as he and the rest of the Electopian fighters tried to make their way to the front desk. None of the people in line looked the least bit familiar to any of them except Klove, who tried to hide his identity as best he could. He already knew that veterans were unwelcome if they were to compete again, especially if they had gotten as far as he had in the last tournament.

"Gah!" Miyuu let out as she was almost out of the crowd and hopping on one foot, "Let go... of my leg..." Miyuu struggled to pry her left foot out of the crowd and finally succeeded as the rest of the fighters made it out of the mass of people. They were all gathered around a handful of people near the wall, but none of them could make out who it was due to the crowd blocking their view.

"Let's get to the desk before they decide to check..." Kinzoku said, but then stopped to see the crowd slowly moving from the mass towards the desk. "...in..."

Manic and Kinzoku quickly raced to the front desk to get rooms for everyone for tomorrow's match. It didn't take long for the four ahead of them to check in, as they were veterans of the last tournament, and had the bruises from the crowd to prove it.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the warm-hearted receptionist asked from behind the desk. She seemed cheerful towards everyone, making everyone from Electopia feel a bit easier about being at the hotel.

"Hi, are there any rooms available?" Kinzoku asked softly.

"No rooms are available, but if you're associated with the tournament, can you please tell me the country you're representing and your registered team name, please."

Manic thought for a second. Of course they hadn't registered their team name, he assumed, nor would it transfer to the hotel straight from the boat about who won the preliminaries that quickly, but it was worth a shot.

"Team Deity and Team Ironfist from Electopia," Manic said as he leaned on the counter. The receptionist frantically typed on a small keyboard and stared at a transparent monitor for a few seconds.

"...no, we don't have any teams registered by those names, sorry," the receptionist said.

"Ok..." Manic said as he leaned forward and whispered to the receptionist, "We're the... guests..."

"Oh, yes, you're the guests," the receptionist said with a bright smile as she typed more on the keyboard. Manic and the others could feel all the glares coming from the crowd of contestants as the room went silent, save for the sounds of typing on a keyboard. Manic decided not to look at the crowd and kept leaning on the desk while the others tried to ignore the crowd's stares.

"Ah, yes, here you go," the receptionist said finally, "Here are your keys... Sorry, but the two rooms are on separate floors. Good luck tomorrow!"

Manic thanked her quietly as he took the keys and handed one to Joseph. Joseph and Team Ironfist were on the fourth floor with room 405 while Team Deity had room 607, two floors above them.

"Let's go..." Manic said quietly as they all left the hotel lobby and strode up the stairs. As the group headed for the stairwell, Klove stayed behind and glared back at the crowd.

*I know you're in here...* Klove said to himself as he tried to see within the crowd. He then turned and walked towards the stairwell also. *But you won't show yourself until the last minute... I know how you work...*

The fighters quickly made their way to the fourth floor, letting Jet, Taichi, Derek, Klove and Joseph go to their rooms.

"We'll meet in the lobby tomorrow morning and go to the arena as a group, is what Jet's suggesting," Taichi said as he translated Jet's sign language for him. Manic nodded in agreement and led the way upstairs towards the sixth floor. The four made it to the sixth floor without receiving any unwanted attention from other fighters and they quickly made it to room 607.

"That was the longest moment in my life..." Ryuu said with a sigh as they all walked into the room. Kinzoku immediately set his katana and wakizashi on the table, along with Ryuu's nunchaku and Miyuu's katana. Manic was just taking off his ninjato and gun holster when something on the roof of their room caught his eye.

"What is that?" Manic asked quietly as he nodded towards a small, thin box mounted on the roof.

"Could be a camera..." Kinzoku said as he lay down on the bed, "I wouldn't be surprised to see one in our room, seeing as we're the 'guests' of this competition...they would want to keep a watch on us to make sure we don't escape..."

"That's true," Ryuu said as he splashed some water on his face quickly from the sink. Miyuu was sitting on the other bed, thumbing at a scratch on the sheath of her katana. Ryuu then walked out of the bathroom and saw the sun about to set over a mountain. "We had better get some rest for tomorrow," Ryuu said, wiping his face dry with a washcloth. Manic nodded in agreement, along with Miyuu. Kinzoku was already asleep.

Miyuu sighed, "I'll sleep on that bed... doesn't look like he'll wake up any time soon..."

"There's a fold-out bed in here if you prefer sleeping on that, Miyuu-chan," Ryuu said as he closed the closet and looked towards Miyuu.

"I'll take that," Miyuu said in response.

"Ok, I'll sleep on that bed, then," Manic said as he crossed the room, "Ryuu has a bed to himself, then..." Ryuu smiled and walked towards the bed as Manic said this, but stopped shortly afterwards and looked out the window.

"Who's that?" Ryuu asked no one in particular. Manic and Miyuu walked towards the window to look down at the ground to see a short, chubby man with long gray hair walking towards the entrance to the hotel.

"Hmm..." Manic said, "He might be a judge or something, because I don't see a team anywhere around him."

"That's possible," Miyuu said. She then yawned and walked towards her bed, "Well, I'm going to get some sleep now, see you all in the morning..."

"I'm going to do the same," Ryuu said as he walked towards his bed.

"Hope we do well enough at the tournament to leave there alive..." Manic said quietly as he walked towards the remaining bed.

*Don't worry, these guys all looked like pushovers compared to us,* Infernos said to Manic, *Besides, you guys are kinda cheating... you have 9 members on your team instead of 5...*

*But don't let anyone know...* Yui responded.

*I bet they already do, Yui,* Gaius said, *That's why we're here...*

There was a pause of silence until Infernos spoke up, *Eh, best not worry about these things right now, let them sleep...*

*True,* Gaius and Yui said.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   
  
The hotel clock had read that it was four in the morning when a loud siren blared throughout all the rooms in the hotel. Everyone awoke with a start in 607, along with 405, save for Klove who had been used to this.  
  
"What the hell!?" Manic yelled as he jumped from the bed.

"It's a fire alarm," Ryuu said as he grabbed the weapons off the table and tossed them to their respective owners. They were all now headed out the door and down to the lobby.

"Gah!" Joseph yelled as he fell onto the floor from the buzzing.

"Well, the tournament's begun," Klove said calmly as he got up from the bed.  
  
"What?! At this early in the morning!?" Joseph interrogated.

"They know people are most savage around this time of day," Klove said as he grabbed his equipment from the table, "Because they're not fully awake... they don't hold back as much..."

They all made their way to the hotel lobby, assuming that the alarm meant that something had happened in the hotel and they were all to evacuate. However, once Team Deity reached the lobby floor and met up with Team Ironfist, everyone was gathered around a large scoreboard that displayed the team brackets.

BANDIT'S COVE TOURNAMENT  
Tournament Bracket:  
  


              ___________  
                            |  
                            |  
___________ --___________  
            |                        |  
            |                        |  
 _____--_____  _____--_____  
     |           |             |          |  
 __--__   __--__     __--__   __--__

  
1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 15-16  
  
Teams 1-4(Electopian Bracket)  
1: Deity  
2: Oni  
3: ZX-One  
4: Ironfist  
  
Teams 5-8(Netopian Bracket)  
5: Shuko  
6: World Three  
7: Liquid  
8: Shikegami  
  
Teams 9-12(Northern Republic Bracket)  
9: Ace  
10: Ninpo  
11: Frost  
12: Presario  
  
Teams 13-16(Eurasian Bracket)  
13: Ryusho  
14: Zieghammer  
15: Thunderstrike  
16: Fierce Wind

"So, this is the bracket for the tournament?" Kinzoku asked as he looked at the teams.

"Team Oni..." Miyuu said quietly as she looked at the board, "We fight them first..."

  
"Their name doesn't sound very inviting..." Ryuu commented.

"...I wonder who Team ZX-One is..." Manic said as he looked at the scoreboard, but then his attention was caught by Kinzoku, who hit his shoulder to look at something.

"Look," Kinzoku said, "Didn't the World Three disband?" He pointed to the Netopian Bracket and towards World Three.

"Yeah, at least that's what I'd heard..." Manic said.

"Maybe someone picked it up again..." Ryuu commented, "It's not the first time that's happened before..."

"True..." Manic said, "In either case, we had better get ready for our fight today, we don't know how strong Team Oni is..."

"Then you had better beware, Team Deity," a voice said from behind them. They turned around to see a tall, black-haired man with light blue eyes glaring at them. He wore a gray trenchcoat and had a large, narrow stick strapped onto his back. Next to him were four other people clad in black ninja attire.

"You must be Team Oni," Manic said, returning the glare.

"You assume correctly," the man said as he started to walk past Manic. "You had better be as good as they say... because I'd be rather disappointed to see that the so-called 'strongest' are weak..."

Manic's determination remained with him, even after Team Oni had left. He then looked to Miyuu, Ryuu and Kinzoku.

"We're going to win this tournament, and we're all going home alive."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

V2 chapter 15 complete! Please read and review!


	26. V2 ch 16: The Sweet Sixteen

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 16: The Sweet Sixteen

Manic threw on his dark blue hawaiian shirt before throwing the ninjato strap over his shoulder as he and the rest of Team Deity waited for their turn to head to the arena. They were the first team to fight today, against Team Oni. They were all to wait in an underground locker room until they were announced.

"Is everyone ready?" Ryuu asked as he quietly spun the nunchaku he received from Manic as they all waited for the tournament to commence.

Manic pulled back the chamber of the long-barrelled gun he earned from Koro's training, "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess..."

"Same with me," Kinzoku said, his katana and wakizashi resting on his hip as he meditated to put his train of thought into the fight completely. Miyuu nodded as she held her blade in front of her, examining it closely for any knicks in the blade itself. She then returned the katana to its sheath and a loud announcer's voice blared throughout the entire stadium. However, the stadium was somewhat small compared to most others, but it was completely full with criminals and such from the underworld.

-Ladies and Gentlemen, The Second Bandit's Cove Tournament is about to begin now! There was cheering from the audiences as Team Deity slowly made their way up the steps towards the arena. To refresh everyone on the rules of the Tournament, anything goes, but a team loses if a team is defeated by death or dismemberment, or a team forfeits. Also, if a fighter falls out of the ring for a count of ten, their team is disqualified, and will be killed on the spot. With that said, here is the first match of the day.- The audience now had a thirst for blood with these words.

-First up, our Electopian Bracket, starting with this decade's guests to the Tournament, invited by this decade's sponsors, Team Deity!-

As the four reached the arena, they could finally see light flood the stadium. The area they were to fight in was a large concrete block in the center of the arena with barbed wire lining it. Along the ground, surrounding the block, they were walking on small, sharp stones.

As the four made their way onto the concrete block, they could hear boos and hisses from the crowd, but they tried their best to ignore them. However, Miyuu turned around to look back at the way they came from and saw Joseph, waving to her.

"Joseph!" Miyuu yelled, happy that someone had come to cheer for them, but Joseph yelled back to her, "I'll see you guys after this is done, we're fighting in the second arena right now!"

There were four places where this section of the tournament was taking place, the northeast arena, the northwest arena, the southeast arena and the southwest arena. Team Deity was in the southwest arena for this part of the tournament, and it would be the same for tomorrow, if they were to move on.

-And our second team, straight from the shadows, they are a band of merciless killers, and they always get their job done right. From the Electopian underworld, Team Oni!-

Only two people came from the opposite end of the arena, but the crowd was ecstatic at the arrival of the two. The taller one was the one that Team Deity had confronted in the hotel lobby that morning, but the second person, shorter in stature, was unknown. The taller man stepped onto the concrete slab and faced Team Deity.

-Now, let the fight begin!-

The crowd's cheer was loud, but the fighters could hear each other clearly enough over the cheering.

"So, I get to fight the legendary deities," the man said as the four watched him carefully. "I'm going to have fun with this fight..."

Manic noticed something different about him, and took a step back into a readied stance.

"Kin, you notice something different about him?" Manic asked without turning his head away from the man. Kinzoku turned his katana to the side and put his hand near it, ready to draw. "Yeah, I know what you mean..." Kinzoku responded.

Suddenly, the man in front of them produced two narrow swords and held them in front of his eyes horizontally. Miyuu and Ryuu were prepared to fight now, but no one made a move yet. The man stood there, motionless, while the others waited for him to make a move.

"Now..." the man said as he took a step forward, then broke into a sprint, "you die!"

The man ran towards Miyuu, but Manic and Kinzoku noticed something else. There were three others behind him, all ready to strike as well.

"Watch out!" Manic yelled to the others as he and Kinzoku leapt to the side to avoid kunai that were thrown by someone. Ryuu barely dodged a pair of iron claws shot at him by throwing himself backwards and landing on his hands, but then went backwards into a flip and landed on his knee. Miyuu barely drew her sword in time to block the man's swords, but he quickly jumped away from Miyuu, along with the other men clad in black. They all varied in size and weaponry. One was kneeling on the ground, hunched over with a pair of claws connected to a chain in his hands. Another one stood up straight with three kunai in each of his hands. The last one had an enormous build and carried a large axe over his shoulders. Manic and Kinzoku had picked themselves up from the ground and faced the new team of assassins.

"This is the real Team Oni," the man said, "My Oni..."

Ryuu picked himself up from his kneeling stance and faced the team, "How about we go one on one? Each member of your team against one from ours?"

The leader of the group had smirked, "You underestimate my group... fine, one on one, but at the same time. I'd rather have this finished quickly instead of drawn out..."

"That's fine with me," Ryuu said in response as he walked forward, but then saw the hunched man glare at him. Ryuu clenched his fists, which were covered by open-fingered gloves, and glared back.

"You're mine, karate boy," the hunched man said as he slowly crawled along the ground towards Ryuu, taking distance away from the rest of the fighters.

* * *

"What do they call you around here?" the man with the kunai in his hands said as he slowly walked towards Kinzoku.

"They call me Kinzoku," Kin said as he walked just as slowly to the side, circling the man.

"Good. Those who aren't dead when they see me, I tell them my name is Hakkaido, the man who will send them to Hell."

Kinzoku smirked at this, "Long catchphrase, but I won't be so easy for you to kill..."

Hakkaido smirked as they walked away from the others slowly, keeping their distances from each other, "I think this will be the first fight in a long time that I will have fun with..."

* * *

Back at the remaining fighters, the leader of Team Oni kept his glare focused on Miyuu. "You should provide me with enough entertainment for this fight," the man said as he stepped forward, but when he stepped forward, Miyuu took a small step backwards, her katana still gripped in her hands.

"Don't underestimate me," Miyuu said, "I will kill you if I have to..."

The man laughed, "I doubt you could even scratch me." He then put his blades into a cross in front of his chest and rushed towards Miyuu again.

* * *

"Guess you're all that's left," Manic said to the axe-wielding fighter, "So let's make this quick, ok?"

"Yes, let's," the man said as he brought the axe from his shoulders and into a readied position as Manic kept his stare focused on him as he slowly walked to the side of the brute.

* * *

"Gyah!" Ryuu burst out as he had flipped sideways to avoid another of the man's chain claws. He landed in a kneeling position, but was ready just in time to dive forward and below another strike from the claws, but the chain had barely torn through Ryuu's shirt as he landed. He then picked himself up from the ground to see the man cackling at him.

"Run as much as you want, you can't defeat Shun-Tou," the man said as he laughed. Ryuu wiped a drop of sweat from his cheek as he focused on the man.

_I can't get in close enough to hit him..._ Ryuu said to himself.

_We'll have to work together against this foe, Ryuu,_ Gaius said.

_Yes..._ Ryuu responded, keeping his amber eyes focused on Shun-Tou, ready to dodge if he were to strike again. However, if he kept receiving as many cuts as he was at this time, he was sure to fall soon.

"Ready or not, karate kid!" Shun-Tou cackled again as he threw his arm backwards, ready to throw the chain claws again at Ryuu.

There! Ryuu said as his eyes widened. Once Shun-Tou threw the chain claws, Ryuu already began his sprint towards Shun-Tou, holding the nunchaku handles between him and the chains. Once Ryuu finally reached Shun-Tou, he clenched his left fist and delivered a powerful punch to Shun-Tou's jaw, then a knee to his stomach, finally ending with a side kick to Shun-Tou's chin, sending his head backwards.

"Hehe," Ryuu said as he lowered his foot to the ground, "Guess you were all talk after all..."

"You think you've won this fight?" a cackling voice said as Shun-Tou lowered his head again after the kick, seemingly unharmed, which surprised Ryuu. "Yeah, I've trained my body well enough to withstand even these claws, much less your weak attacks." Finally, Ryuu noticed why he had said that and saw from up close that Shun-Tou's body was covered in callouses from fighting.

Suddenly, Shun-Tou's chains had whipped towards Ryuu and wrapped themselves around him. Ryuu held his right forearm in front of his neck to avoid being choked to death by the chain that wrapped around the back of his neck, but Ryuu couldn't move either of his legs, as they were bound at the ankles by the second end of the chain.

"Now you're mine to toy with," Shun-Tou said evilly as he hopped backwards and forcefully pulled the chains up and over his head, taking Ryuu with them, and swung the chain over his head once, then slammed Ryuu into the concrete below, forcing Ryuu to cough up blood onto the concrete slab.

* * *

Miyuu's blade was locked between the leader's crossed swords, but the leader of the team was too strong for her, and sent her skidding backwards across the concrete to the near edge of the arena. However, Miyuu kept her stance strong and recovered from it and looked at him, but he glared back at her with cold, empty eyes.

"You should know who you are fighting, Tenjou..." the man said coldly as Miyuu glared at him with more contempt.

"How do you know me?" Miyuu demanded.

"I fought alongside Amethyst as one of her generals," the man said, just as coldly, but his words brought memories back to Miyuu as she remembered who he was.

Back then, Amethyst had been the leader of the Lucavi Knights, and she had trusted generals under her command. Two of them she had seen and she had heard about a third, but Miyuu had never recognized this one except from the stories. He had been the general in charge of the stealth unit in the Lucavi, and only a select few had ever seen his face. However, now, Miyuu recognized who he was, and how he knew her.

"So, Shin Tomotsu," Miyuu said as she brought the blade up next to her ear, "Why do you decide now to show your presence to the world?"

The edges of Tomotsu's lips gave off a smile which quickly faded, "Because of my brother..." Tomotsu then glanced towards the outskirts of the arena, past the others fighting, to a short red haired kid, no older than twelve, watching the fight with a katana on his hip.

"Why..." Miyuu said in shock, "why would you bring your brother into a life of killing?"  
  
"Because he wanted to," Tomotsu answered simply. Miyuu couldn't stand this man any more, for the cruelty of committing his own younger brother into a life of crime. Her emotion took hold of her immediately as she rushed towards him.

"Shii-ne!" Miyuu yelled as she sprinted towards Tomotsu with her katana ready to strike. However, Tomotsu was too quick for her, and dodged to the side and locked blades with Miyuu again as she struck numerous times in anger.

* * *

Manic skid back on the concrete on both his feet, his head turned to the side after receiving a blow from the large man.

"Hah, guess you're not all you're cooked up to be, are you!" the large man yelled at Manic as he held his great axe in front of him. Manic turned his eyes to face the man as he spat out a bit of blood.

"That was a free shot," Manic said with a smirk as he unsheathed the ninjato on his back, "Now I'm getting serious."

"You don't have a chance in Hell of beating me, bo--"

"What's your name?"

"What?!"  
  
"What is your name," Manic asked harshly.

"Doubt it'll do you any good, being a dead man," the man laughed, "But the name's Bakuretsu. And now, you die!" Bakuretsu had lunged towards Manic with the large axe ready to cut Manic's waist, but Manic was too quick for the attack and hopped over the blade as it swung past him. Once Manic landed and caught Bakuretsu's glance, he immediately shot towards him with great speed and cut in a downwards diagonal strike towards Bakuretsu's hands. However, instead of the fingers being cut off, Bakuretsu's grip loosened and his axe fell to the ground, his fingers broken. He fell onto his knee from the pain and looked at Manic.

"How..." Bakuretsu said quietly. Then, he saw how his fingers were saved. Manic had inverted the blade before he struck, so it wouldn't cut through Bakuretsu's fingers. However, Bakuretsu wasn't finished by a long shot, as he picked up his axe with his other hand and swung at Manic once again. However, instead of dodging the strike, Manic decided to block the attack as he held the back of the ninjato with his free hand. Manic's ninjato was starting to cut into the handle of the axe as Bakuretsu laughed as he kept force on the axe.

"Bahahah, you can't keep that up forever, you know," Bakuretsu said while laughing.

Manic smirked, "I know." And with that, Manic pushed the axe off the ninjato with both hands and cut through the axe handle itself, letting the axe blade fall to the ground with a loud clatter. Bakuretsu looked at the fallen axe with shock in his eye.

"You brag too much, and you underestimated my team," Manic said as he snapped his wrist sideways, so Bakuretsu could see the side of the ninjato. Bakuretsu quickly crawled backwards and towards the arena exit until he felt a foot on his back. He looked up to see Tomotsu's brother keeping him from exiting the arena with his sword drawn in his right hand, his left holding the opening of the sheath. 

"...Ku...mo...?" Bakuretsu said slowly as he looked at the red-haired boy, as did Manic from the corner of his eye.

However, the boy didn't respond, other than sending the katana through Bakuretsu's chest. Manic and Bakuretsu were shocked at what had happened, and watched Bakuretsu fall onto the floor, dead. Kumo then stepped over Bakuretsu and faced Manic.

"You killed your own teammate..." Manic said coldly as he turned to face the replacement fighter.

"Yes, a worthless one." Kumo said coldly, which angered Manic and Infernos even more.

"You don't get to decide who's worthless or not!" Manic yelled at the boy. "No one in this world is worthless, everyone has the right to live."

"If you would like to prove your statement," Kumo said, with the same coldness in his eyes and voice as his brother, "Then prove me wrong with your blade..."

With that statement, both Manic and Kumo ran towards each other and cut at each other, each of them deflecting the others' blows flawlessly.

* * *

"So, Kinzoku," Hakkaido said cooly, "you ever kill a man?"

Kinzoku glared at him from the corner of his eye as he walked, "Yeah... I can tell you have countless times..."

Hakkaido laughed, "You see right through me, samurai. Now, let's see if you can see through my attack!" The man then sent all his kunai towards Kinzoku, one after the other in quick succession. However, Kinzoku had rolled to the side to dodge most of them, and deflected the last one with his katana while he knelt on the ground. He then got up and glared at the man.

"You mock me," Kinzoku said coldly, "If that's all you have, then you're going to lose easily."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Hakkaido said as he quickly flicked his left wrist and the kunai seemed to come to life, jumping from the floor in a line towards Kinzoku. He received two cuts on his arm as he rolled backwards to dodge the attack, but noticed that the kunai were all connected by a clear wire, to seem as if they were all connected by an invisible force. He landed in a kneeling position, with his katana in front of him, ready to strike.

_Not good... not good._.. Naoko said in Kinzoku's head.

_Don't worry,_ Kinzoku said, _I've dealt with worse..._

_

* * *

_  
-And welcome to round two of the Bandit's Cove Tournament. This is the second half of the Electopian bracket. Two teams will go in, but only one will leave successfully for the next fight. Now, to introduce the teams. As the newcoming team, their first time arriving at the Bandit's Cove, and an affiliate with Team Deity, We have the leader of the Iron-Fisted Few, Joseph Katsuya, and his Team Ironfist!-

As they were being announced, Jet, Taichi and Derek had started walking towards the concrete slab in the middle of the arena. They knew no one in the crowd or anyone watching them, but they had kept walking towards the center until Joseph had caught up with the rest of the Iron-Fisted Few, panting.

"Where were you?" Taichi asked as they all walked towards the center of the arena.

"Heh... had to... see how the others... were doing..." Joseph said between pants. However, his exhaustion was quickly overcome as they stepped onto the concrete arena, ready to fight. Jet was ready with a sturdy long-handled axe over his shoulders, while Derek and Taichi went into the arena with doubled swords. Joseph led the way onto the arena floor, his family's long sword sheathed and hanging off his hip. He looked around the arena and at the crowd. There were mixed emotions throughout the crowd, booing from some for being affiliated, while others were cheering for the underdogs of the fight.

-And the veteran team, they have been known to spread fear into others with mere statistics of fights, along with their own experimental goods. Returning from last tournament, Team ZX-One!-

However, from the opposite end of the arena, a short, balding man with long gray hair and a stout stomach walked towards the center of the arena, accompanied by two gray-faced men. Joseph and the others walked forward as well to meet them.

"Wait, why do you only have three members?" Derek asked skeptically, as the others wondered the same. The short man merely laughed.

"I pulled some strings in the main office to fight with only what you see right now..." the man said. However, while the man talked, Joseph looked behind him and around the arena.

_Where's Klove?_ Joseph thought to himself, but then quickly shook the thought out of his head and looked towards the stubby man with a smirk on his face.

"You know, I never really liked for the odds to be uneven," Joseph said, feeling a bit cocky, "So here's the deal... You fight Jet, Derek and me, while Tai comes in if something happens to one of us, or if you get another guy on your team. Deal?"

The man laughed even more, "Deal, my boy, deal..." Joseph wondered why he was laughing so much, but then thought against it as the Iron-Fisted Few walked towards their side of the arena.

"Ok guys, this guy's a pushover, even with his two friends," Joseph said, "So we're going to rush them and get this over with. That sound good?"

Taichi nodded to this, then hopped off the concrete floor and leaned against it, while Jet and Derek nodded as well.

"Taichi," Joseph said over his shoulder, "If Klove gets here, punch him for me for being late, ok?"

Taichi smirked and nodded lightly.

-And Begin!-

"All right, old man," Joseph said with a smirk, "that next seat is ours! Attack!" At Joseph's command, all three of them had rushed towards the stubby man and his two helpers. Even though his helpers seemed weak compared to the others, they were resilient, as they picked themselves up after each attack. However, they had all gotten past the two men and ran straight for the old man with their weapons ready to strike. However, Jet and Derek stopped in their tracks, causing Joseph to run into Jet's back. Jet didn't budge an inch, but Joseph had taken two steps backwards.

"What's wrong with you guys?!" Joseph asked, keeping his focus on the old man. His arms were outstretched towards both Derek and Jet, as both of them had shocked expressions on their faces. However, their faces returned to normal quickly, and their eyes had become glazed over. Jet and Derek then turned around to face Joseph, Jet's axe over one shoulder while Derek's swords crossed in front of him.

"Hey, what's wrong, guys?" Joseph asked, backing up again. Jet and Derek had slowly begun to advance towards Joseph, while Taichi was about to get up onto the concrete slab to help him out until he was stopped by the stubby man's yell.

"Get off this arena!" the man yelled, "His team has not been killed yet, so you are not needed."

Taichi was fuming with anger now, but he got down from the concrete slab and glared at the old man. There wasn't anything he could do at this point.

"Guys, what are you doing?!" Joseph asked frantically as they advanced towards him. Both their stares were cold and emotionless, but that quickly changed, as Jet lunged towards Joseph with his axe, ready to strike. Joseph was quick enough to evade the attack by jumping backwards, but he had a gash across his chest now, through his torn clothing.

"What are you doing!?" Joseph yelled back as the two kept walking towards him.

"Hehe," the old man chuckled evilly, "They're under my control, if you haven't figured it out yet... Now, I may be a sport enough to let them go... that is, if you surrender..."

"Never!" Joseph yelled back at the man, who laughed again.

"Fine. Attack him!" the man yelled, and Jet and Derek quickly rushed towards Joseph again, attacking him. Joseph did his best to defend against most of the attacks and evade quickly without hurting them, but he was thrown back by Jet's strong axe attack and landed in a kneel. He now had a few more cuts across his arms and stomach, but he tried his best to stand back up.

"Give up now?" the man cackled.

"Geh..." Joseph glared at the man as Jet and Derek advanced upon him. _Damn, I can't get to him without getting past those two... and I can't hurt those two, I'd never forgive myself for it... damn..._

However, Joseph made the attempt to rush past the two fighters and go towards the stubby man, but it seemed that Derek and Jet had enhanced speed now, and quickly cut Joseph off with their attacks, and he was sent backwards once again.

"Damn..." Joseph said as he spit out blood from his mouth. He was now hurting badly, but he didn't want to give up.

"Fine, since you won't listen to me," the old man said as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Jet's eyes returned to normal, along with Derek's, but they were now kneeling on the ground, in searing pain.

"They will die if I don't stop their suffering," the old man said, "But I will stop their suffering... if you give up. What will it be, Joseph Katsuya?"

Joseph wanted so badly to run past Jet and Derek and slug the old man in the face, but he knew that he could kill them if he tried. He gritted his teeth as he though, but then he glared again at the man, with more hatred than anything.

* * *

"Gyahahahah!" Shun-Tou cackled as he threw Ryuu around the arena, the chains still binding him.

_Damn... I can't move anything!_ Ryuu said to himself as he tried his best to resist the torture. However, Gaius had noticed something on Shun-Tou.

_Ryuu, play dead!_ Gaius responded quickly.

_Gaius?  
_  
_Just do it!_ Gaius responded. Ryuu took Gaius' advice and closed his eyes and loosened his body up. Shun-Tou threw him around a couple more times until he stopped to watch Ryuu lying motionless on the ground, bound in chains. Shun-Tou cackled as he walked over towards Ryuu to see his prey.

"Guess you couldn't take the abuse for long, could you?" Shun-Tou said, his hands on his waist.

Ryuu's eye then shot open and looked towards a pale-skinned area on the side of Shun-Tou's chest.

"An opening!" Ryuu shouted as he quickly shot his legs up and over his head to send Shun-Tou backwards a few steps, then swung the nunchaku towards the pale area on Shun-Tou's body. Shun-Tou recoiled in pain as the nunchaku hit and Ryuu jumped towards him and sent a knee to that general area. Shun-Tou fell onto his knees and held his chest as he looked up to Ryuu.

"How... how did you...?" Shun-Tou said as he gripped his side.

"Everyone has his or her weakness," Gaius said through Ryuu, "And you never took enough time to roughen the side of your body, because your arms never came away from them. That was your downfall. And now, you're gone." Gaius then spun the nunchaku around his arms for a second, then kicked Shun-Tou's arm into the air and unleashed a blinding fury of nunchaku attacks towards Shun-Tou's ribs, shattering a few of them, and finished once Shun-Tou fell to the ground, paralyzed. Ryuu then kept his focus on Shun-Tou, in case he was to get back up again, but it was very unlikely.

_Yosh!_ Ryuu said mentally, _Thank you again, Gaius._

_Don't mention it..._ Gaius responded with a laugh, _I've wanted to hit that guy ever since I saw him..._

_

* * *

_  
Kinzoku rolled to the side once again to avoid most of the kunai from Hakkaido, but blood was starting to seep through his uniform.

"I see you're quite resilient, Kinzoku," Hakkaido said cooly as the kunai came back to his hands, "but you can't last forever... especially in your current state..."

"I've felt worse..." Kinzoku said, gripping his katana tightly as he stood up. However, he then sheathed it and stood sideways towards Hakkaido, ready to draw and strike.

"So this is what it has come down to, a match of speed," Hakkaido said, lowering himself and getting ready to throw the kunai again.

"Now!" Hakkaido yelled as he shot the kunai towards Kinzoku. Kinzoku had sprinted towards Hakkaido and ran past the kunai whip, but then quickly spun around mid-sprint and threw his wakizashi at the lead kunai at the end of the whip. The small sword hit the kunai perfectly and caused the whip to fly out of Hakkaido's hands due to the extra force to the whip. Shortly after, Kinzoku quickly turned around and rushed towards Hakkaido. In a split second, Hakkaido and Kinzoku were standing side by side, Hakkaido in extreme pain.

"I hope you see now, why I was chosen by the deity of light," Kinzoku said quietly to Hakkaido as he fell to the ground and Kinzoku shoved Hakkaido off his sword. However, the only blood that came from the attack was from Hakkaido's mouth, as Kinzoku had inverted the blade just before hitting him.

_Why did you make me invert the sword?_ Kinzoku asked Naoko mentally as he sheathed his sword again.

_Because I don't like seeing death,_ Naoko responded. Kinzoku held his hand on the handle of the katana after it was sheathed and closed his eyes.

_Thank you._

_

* * *

_  
"Gah!" Kumo let out as he fell to his knee, his sword still gripped in his hand. Manic was standing behind him, his back turned towards him.

"You should quit this line of work," Manic said to Kumo over his shoulder, "killing doesn't suit you..."

Kumo spat at this and got up from the ground. "I chose this life. Don't dictate to me what I should do!"

_Damn, he's getting ready to move again,_ Infernos said mentally, _He's too fast for you to keep up like this._

However, Manic listened as he moved the ninjato over to his left hand. _I know what I'm doing..._

_I hope so..._ Infernos said.

Kumo then turned to face Manic's back, with his katana ready to cut again.

"I must do this, to prove myself..." Kumo said quietly. However, there was a brief moment of silence as Kumo faced Manic. Manic's back was still turned towards Kumo, but he could still feel Kumo's eyes piercing into him.

Then, Kumo made his move, He lunged towards Manic with great speed, ready to cut Manic in half. However, Manic turned around and unholstered the long-barrelled handgun from his side and shot at Kumo's katana, sending it out of Kumo's hands and onto the ground. Manic looked down the length of the barrel towards the motionless Kumo.

"No one should prove their worth by murder," Infernos said through Manic as Manic holstered the gun again and walked over towards Kumo, who was backing up. Kumo tripped as he backed up and landed on the ground. Manic walked over to him and looked down at him.

"Go," Manic said, "and never hold a sword to kill someone again..." Manic then switched the ninjato to his right hand and turned around, ready to walk away from the fallen boy.

_Dammit..._ Kumo said angrily about Manic, _He thinks I don't deserve to kill!? He thinks I'm some stupid kid!?_ However, as Manic was about to sheathe his ninjato, Kumo quickly stood up and lunged towards Manic with a wakizashi from his hip, ready to cut Manic's shoulder. However, Manic noticed this and spun around to perform a rising cut against the wakizashi. However, the ninjato's blade had been cut off by Kumo's blade, but Manic quickly kicked Kumo in the midsection, sending him backwards and the wakizashi flying off the concrete slab where they were fighting.

_He never gives up, does he?_ Manic said mentally.

_No... looks like he can never change from the way he chose..._ Infernos said quietly in response to Manic. _Let's go... he needs time to think..._

With that, Manic walked off and sheathed the broken ninjato.

* * *

Miyuu slid across the concrete floor and came to a stop, falling to a knee. Her arm was now soaked in blood from a wound and she was completely exhausted. Tomotsu was starting to tire out as well, but he kept walking towards her.

"You're strong..." Tomotsu said, "I see why Amethyst chose you..." Miyuu looked up with glaring eyes.

_There's... nothing._.. Miyuu thought to herself.

_Let me take over for a minute..._ Yui said. Miyuu bowed her head slightly and closed her eyes.

"So you accept your death, is that it?" Tomotsu asked, "If that is what you wish... then I will give it to you..." Tomotsu gripped his swords again and began to run towards Miyuu, ready to cut into her neck.

_Now,_ Yui thought as she looked towards Tomotsu with her head raised slightly. She waited for him to come near until she acted.

Quickly, before Tomotsu could swipe at her, the sheath to Amethyst's katana was imbedded deeply into Tomotsu's solarplex, held there by Yui's left arm. Tomotsu gasped for air as he dropped to his knees, his swords clattering to the ground. Yui then took the sheath out of him forcefully and slowly stood up and sheathed the katana.

"Shin Tomotsu..." Miyuu said as she walked away, "Amethyst told me about you... always out of respect... and you disrespect her in this way... you have fallen."

However, Tomotsu was not ready to give up yet. As he gasped for air on the ground, he moved his hand over to pick up one of his swords and slowly stood up and faced Miyuu's back with eyes of hatred.

"What do you know about respect, foolish girl..." Tomotsu growled as he quickly ran towards Miyuu with renewed strength, ready to imbed the sword into her shoulder. However, a broken ninjato flew through the air and knocked the sword out of Tomotsu's hand while two lightning-fast men ran past Tomotsu after landing their respective attacks. Tomotsu fell to the ground, finally defeated. The entire arena was silent.

-ah...um... and Team Deity wins the fight.-

The four half-expected a riot to break out among the crowd because of their win, but they all stayed silent as they walked towards the exit to the arena.

"This is unnerving..." Ryuu said quietly as they walked.

* * *

Team Deity finally arrived at the hotel to find Team Ironfist sitting in the lobby, their heads fallen.

"Hey guys," Kinzoku said.

"What happened?" Manic asked. Joseph just looked up and motioned towards the schedule for tomorrow's events.

TOMORROW'S FIGHTS:  
Electopian Bracket:  
Team Deity  
vs.  
Team ZX-One  
  
Netopian Bracket:  
Team World Three  
vs.  
Team Liquid  
  
Northern Republic Bracket:  
Team Ace  
vs.

Team Frost  
  
Eurasian Bracket:  
Team Ryusho

vs.  
Team Thunderstrike

Manic looked at the Electopian bracket and was shocked to see who they were facing. They had lost.

"Joseph..." Miyuu said, saddened for them, but Joseph looked up at them with eyes of determination.

"I don't trust Klove any more..." Joseph said bluntly.

"Why not?" Ryuu asked.

"He wasn't there. He abandoned us." Joseph responded.

Kinzoku shook his head, "I expected something like this..."

"Oh well, doesn't matter..." Joseph said as he picked himself up, "We're not in the tournament anyways, so it's not like he can benefit from anything now... I'm going to get some sleep, I'll see you guys later..."

They said their good-byes to Joseph as he walked up the stairs. After a moment of looking at the boards, Manic yawned and walked away.

"I'm getting some sleep too... big fight ahead of us tomorrow..." Manic said as he walked towards the stairs. The rest of Team Deity decided that would be the best course of action and they all walked towards the stairs as well. Once Manic was halfway up the staircase, a blonde-haired man dressed in a bomber jacket and a hat concealing his eyes shoved past Manic, on his way down the staircase. He was fairly short, but quick to get down the stairs. Manic watched the boy leave for a second, then turned arond again and proceeded up the stairs.

However, their hotel room door was slightly ajar. Manic motioned for everyone to stop as he slowly walked towards the door and quickly pushed it open. No one was in the room, but there was a small envelope on the table. Manic and the others walked towards the table and opened the letter. Inside, there were four cards and a short note.

You know how to use these. Use them wisely.  
-a fan

"Who..." Kinzoku wondered as they read the note. He looked at the cards inside the envelope. However, he noticed that they weren't conventional cards. They were datasilver cards.

* * *

V2 ch. 16 done, the longest chapter so far. Please read and review


	27. V2 ch 17: A Distant Farewell

It was a peaceful, starry night in ACDC. Couples were walking along the sidewalks, admiring the stars and loving one another. It seemed everyone was peaceful that night, even a certain netbattler, living in apartment 777, in the ACDC Netbattler's apartment complex. The apartments were recently built with the advent of Navis, and one such navi was undergoing upgrading.

"Ow, that hurt!" Strike.exe yelped at his operator as a new, more complex program had replaced his arm. The navi was a bit taller than most navis seen on the net. It had deep red armor with black trim around the arms and legs, spiky red hair that went almost everywhere, and bright green eyes. "Couldn't you have at least told me what you were going to do first?"  
  
"Hehe, sorry about that, Strike," his operator had said. He ran his hand through his short, deep blue hair and continued work on reconstructing Strike. Strike was a custom navi that he received from his father just before he left on a business trip, but he never saw him again since that day.

_Pah, who needs him_, the young netbattler would always say to himself.

While he was working on Strike.exe, there was a knock on the door.

"Hold on, I'll be back," Strike's operator said quietly as he picked himself up from the couch and walked slowly towards the door.

"Who is it?" the youth said as he walked to the door. There was another banging on the door, this time it echoed through the entire apartment. He narrowed his eyes and walked to a desk off to the side of the apartment and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a small handgun, took the safety off and walked to the door again.

"Who is it!"

"...Zero, it's me..."

Zero blinked, then put the gun into his other hand, away from where the door would open. He unlocked the sliding door and started to push it open.

"Man, Apo-kun, lay off the door banging whenev..." Zero paused as the door slid open on its own to show the scene. His friend was being held by two large thugs, one with a gun to his head. Two others were standing closer to Zero, and they immediately barged into the apartment. Zero attempted to aim the gun at one of them, but the men were too fast for him, and they rushed into him, sending the handgun flying to the other side of the room. Zero struggled to get free from their grip, but Apo-kun was thrown towards him. Zero caught him when the men let him go. They walked towards the front door and faced the two netbattlers on the floor.

"So, I've found you two at last..." said a decrepid voice among the four thugs. The two netbattlers picked themselves up from the ground and tried to see who the source of the voice was. "You ruined my life's work, you two... you just had to interfere..."

Zero then remembered where he had heard that voice.

"How...how did you get out of prison!?" Zero yelled towards the owner of the voice. The voice chuckled, then laughed whole-heartedly.

"You don't know my capabilities, do you?" the voice said. Finally, the voice now had a body with it. The man was short and round, his black hair was starting to fall out. "I have many contacts, getting out of prison was cake for me, and it was all worth it, to see you two die in front of my eyes."

With those words, the four thugs had brandished silenced submachine guns, and pointed them at the two netbattlers.

"Zero? What's going on? Zero!? Zero!" Strike yelled through the PET, hopelessly trying to get Zero to respond to him.

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
"Zero!"  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
"Zero, answer me!"  
  
Chapter 17: A Distant Farewell

"Joseph, wake up!"

"Ngh... five more minutes..." Joseph said as he rolled over and went back to sleep. Manic and Kin were now angry. They wanted to know more about who they were going to face next in the tournament, and since Team Ironfist had lost to their next opponent, Kinzoku figured that Joseph would know how to fight them.

"Kin, grab his legs," Manic said as he grabbed both of Joseph's arms. Kin grabbed Joseph's legs, and the two hauled Joseph towards the hotel room's bathroom and put him into the bathtub. The showerhead above was now aimed directly at Joseph's face, thanks to Manic's repositioning of the showerhead.

"Joseph, one last chance..." Manic said calmly, "wake up!"

Joseph merely mumbled in his sleep.

"You asked for it, then...," Kinzoku said as he turned the cold water shower knob. Suddenly, even Manic and Kin jumped backwards at Joseph's reaction.

"YAAAH!" Joseph screamed as he struggled to get out of the bathtub before being frozen by the water. After a moment of struggling, Joseph finally crawled out of the bathtub and looked up at Manic and Kinzoku.

"Rise and shine," Manic said.

"How do we fight our next guy?" Kin said.

"...I hate you two." Joseph said with glaring eyes as he grabbed a towel and walked out of the bathroom.

* * *

-And welcome to the Quarter Finals of the Bandit's Cove Tournament. Our first match of the day will be the deciding match of the Electopian Bracket. This looks like it will be an exciting match, too. First up, we have the underdogs and guest entrants of the tournament, Team Deity. They will be facing a veteran team of the last Bandit's Cove, Team ZX-One. They fell short of the semi-finals last year due to a forfeit, but their team leader, Dr. Barnes Wainwright, seems to have a few more tricks up his sleeve as compared to last year's tournament. We've seen one such trick in the first match-up, with the good doctor taking control of two of Team Ironfist's members. If that was just a mere taste of what he has in store for his next opponents, then we can all expect a very well-fought tournament this year.-

"They barely mentioned us..." Miyuu said, wiping the blade of her katana clean with a piece of cloth.

"Well, we're the underdogs, after all," Kinzoku responded.

"We'll do fine," Ryuu said immediately after Kin, "there's no match we can't win in this tournament, don't worry about it."

Manic smirked. "You're right. Besides, I'd like to see the look on their faces once we win this tournament!"  
  
As Team Deity was preparing for their next match, Manic took out the enveloupe they found in their room and looked at the datasilver cards.

_Who left these in our room...? _Manic thought to himself. _They look familiar... like an advance attack that I... no... it couldn't be... _Once the teams were announced, though, Manic put the enveloupe back in his pocket and walked towards the entrance to the arena.

The arena was filled with the cheers and boos of the crowd, once again. Team Deity stepped out into the open and hopped onto the concrete slab.

-And our veteran team, please welcome Team ZX-One!-  
  
The crowd was now in an uproar of cheering as a short, stubby man had walked out and stepped onto the arena concrete.

-And Begin!-

"We have to fight an old guy?" Miyuu asked skeptically. Ryuu and Kinzoku just looked at the man while Manic sighed.

"Yes, you have to fight me," Dr. Wainwright said with an evil smile, "so don't take me too lightly, you brats..."

Wainwright snapped his fingers and two tall men had grabbed both Ryuu and Miyuu and hauled them off to the side of the arena.

"What are you doing!?" Manic yelled towards Dr. Wainwright in surprise.

"Now, now, it wouldn't be fair for me to fight four of you... I just evened the odds up a bit..."

Manic looked towards the tall men holding Miyuu and Ryuu. They were struggling and tried to fight their way out of their grasp, but the two men seemed as if they didn't feel any of the hits that Miyuu or Ryuu gave them.

"What's with these guys?!" Ryuu yelled as he tried to launch another kick towards the man holding Miyuu.

"Gyeh heheh, they're practically zombies at my disposal, struggling against them is no use," Dr. Wainwright said with a smile. Kinzoku and Manic glared at the doctor.

"Now, you two will fight me," the doctor said towards Kin and Manic. Manic stood up straight, with a cocky look in his eye and straightened out his hawaiian shirt.

"We can still beat you, no problem," Manic said. Wainwright then looked towards Manic's right hip, where Manic's gun was.

"Ah...interesting..." Wainwright said to himself. Then, quickly, Dr. Wainwright threw a small pebble-like object at Manic. However, Manic merely bat it back towards the doctor. However, the object hit something in front of the doctor and dropped to the ground, leaving a small ripple in front of the doctor.

"A barrier?" Manic barked at Dr. Wainwright, who was laughing.

"A bit more than that, though, but you should be focused more on that pebble... right about... now!"

"What?" Manic said. However, he finally found out what was happening. He was starting to lose consciousness, but he was struggling against it.

"Manic!" Kinzoku said as he knelt down and tried to keep Manic awake. However, Manic lost consciousness of his body, but it seemed to move on its own. It stood up and walked towards Dr. Wainwright,

_This can't be good... _Naoko said to Kin.

_You're telling me... _Infernos said in response.

_Infernos! _Naoko said with surprise.

_Yeah, I'm still here. Not in control, but still here._

_Any ideas, Sparky? _Naoko asked.

_...well... you'll really have to make it look good, but..._

"Now that I have him on my side," Dr. Wainwright said with a smile towards Kinzoku, "it seems you have a choice. Kill your friend, or be killed by your friend. Heheh..."

Kinzoku glared at Wainwright, but took a step backwards when Manic turned his head towards him. His eyes were glazed over completely. He really didn't have any control over his body.

"Go!"

After swaying a bit, Manic quickly shot towards Kinzoku and sent a flurry of punches at him. Kin tried his best to block all of them, but Manic's hands were too fast for him. Once Kinzoku found his footing again, though, Manic easily flipped over Kinzoku and sent a knee into his back. Kinzoku yelped with pain, but was quickly taken off his feet and kicked into the air forcefully. However, Manic was in quick pursuit of the airborne samurai and, with great agility, jumped over Kinzoku and punched him down towards the concrete again. During this, though, Manic fell towards the ground before Kinzoku could and, with one final blow, kicked Kin away from him. He was sent sprawling into the concrete, leaving bits of torn-up concrete in his wake. Kinzoku tried to pick himself up, but found Manic looking over him, his gun pointed to his head.

"Finish him off!" Dr. Wainwright screamed at Manic.

However, Manic smirked. He threw off the hawaiian shirt, towards Dr. Wainwright. The shirt had hit the barrier protecting the doctor, but the barrier quickly dropped once a shot rang through the barrier, sending a small floating object to the ground, the object maintaining the barrier around Dr. Wainwright.

The doctor was surprised that his barrier was shot down, but then looked towards the two fighters, who were now standing. Manic's gun was holstered, but smoke was still coming out of the barrel.

"Insolent pest!" Dr. Wainwright yelled at Manic.

"You didn't count on me, did you?" Infernos said through Manic.

_Ready, Kin? _Infernos asked mentally.

_Yeah... I've been waiting to use this..._

"Advance Attack!" both Manic and Kinzoku said in unison, each of them holding three cards in their hand.

"They were tricking me..." Dr. Wainwright said to himself, "That fight was staged..."

"Double-"  
  
"Hero-"  
  
"Plus!"

Suddenly, after the Advance Attack was activated between Kinzoku and Manic, a large bolt of energy flooded the arena. Miyuu and Ryuu tried their best to shield their eyes, along with the rest of the audience, but the flash was gone in an instant.

However, where Kinzoku and Manic once stood, two other men stood. Where Manic was stood a man in a black trenchcoat with deep blue hair, baggy black jeans, black tank top and two long-barrelled revolvers. Where Kinzoku was, though, was a man with pure white hair and glasses, dressed in full samurai armor, and with a long, sheathed katana.

"You remember us, doc?" the blue-haired man said coldly.

"Wh...who are you!?" Dr. Wainwright yelled at the two.

"Obviously not." The samurai said with the same amount of coldness as the other. However, the samurai had unsheathed his katana and held it horizontally, allowing the blue-haired man a foothold to somersault into the air, his back towards the doctor. As the blue-haired man was in the air, the samurai had launched himself towards the doctor and sent a five-cut combination at him, cutting through several robotic decoys that the doctor launched at the man. As the samurai had stopped past Dr. Wainwright, the blue-haired man had now sailed above the doctor and aimed the two guns at him and shot two bullets each at the doctor, each shot causing the man to sail a bit higher in the air. Once the man landed in a kneel on solid ground, though, the doctor quickly scraped his way across the arena, to get away from them.

"Wh-who are y-you two!?" the doctor yelled.

"You still don't remember us..." the blue-haired man said as he slowly stood up. He pressed a button on each of the guns and the revolving chambers had sprung away from the guns. The man then reloaded each of the guns with new chambers and looked towards the doctor.

"Do you remember, when you killed two young men in cold blood?" the blue-haired man said with glaring eyes.

"...no...no, i-it couldn't be... you two!?!?" the doctor picked himself up from the ground to look at the two men again.

"Z-Z-Zero...?" Dr. Wainwright asked after looking at the blue hair. Zero didn't respond.

"A-and... Apollyon?"

"You seem to have remembered finally..." the platinum blonde samurai said as he turned towards the doctor.

"Remember us when you're in Hell," Zero said coldly as he stepped back at took aim at the doctor again. However, each gun seemed to take in energy as he held them. After a short moment of charging, each gun shot was a large blast of energy, straight towards Wainwright. The doctor barely activated a barrier in time to take the shots, but the barrier was only strong enough to prevent those, as it shorted out quickly.

"My turn," Apollyon said as he ran towards Zero's back and, stepping onto Zero's right shoulder quickly, launched into the air, his katana in both hands. As Apollyon came down, however, lightning surrounded the blade.

"Heaven Strike!" Apollyon yelled as he cut towards the doctor as he landed. The doctor barely escaped with another of his contraptions, but Apollyon had done more than enough damage to the arena itself, leaving a large crater where Wainwright was.

_Apollyon, jack into the left computer, I'll take the right!_

_Got it, Zero, good luck!  
  
_"I...I remember..." Wainwright said slowly, recalling his lost memories.

_No! What are you kids doing!? My work!  
  
What we should have done long ago, Doc, we're shutting down your system!_

_No, you fools! Do you know what this could mean!? No one would age! Everyone would be healthy and young forever!  
  
No, Doc, you don't get it, you've seen the side effects of what would happen!_

_Strike, you're coming up to the main power code, get rid of it._

_Gotcha, Zero._

_No! I won't allow you two to destroy my life's work!_

_Zero, I did it, jack me out!_

_Zero, get moving, Azrael's already done with getting his side of the main power code!_

_Done, let's get out of here!_

"I can still... still hear the explosions of my lab...echoes...

"You don't remember it all..." Zero and Apollyon said again.

_Zero, what's wrong?  
  
The door's jammed, I can't get it open!_

_Bahahah, I'll make you two twerps suffer in here forever!_

_Zero, jack Strike in and try to get the door working again, I'll hold him off._

_Don't die on me, Apo-kun.  
  
Heh, you still don't know how good I am with a sword..._

_Strike, how does it look in there?_

_...Strike?_

_Strike! Answer me!_

_Z...Zero!_

_Strike!  
  
_

_There's too many of them! I can't hold them off!_

_Strike! Jack out, now!_

"Because of your twisted mind, everyone in the world would have ended up like you..." Apollyon said coldly, "Had it not been for us, you would ha--"

"I would have cleansed the world! The newly-born youths would have been cast aside, the greater minds would have become the strong, we would have made the world great!"

"You would have ended the world," Zero said, "just look at yourself. That drug you take is the only thing sustaining you now."

"H-how did you--?"

"We're dead, remember?" Apollyon said, answering Dr. Wainwright's question quickly.

"Y-you were exposed to the virus also!" Wainwright yelled.

"We were..." Zero said as he lifted a part of his tanktop up. Underneath, where his abdomen was, there was a chunk of rotting flesh. "We are what we were at the time you killed us. Three years after that incident. We were already rotting away in secret, thanks to your project."

"N-n-no..."

"And the same will happen to you," Apollyon said, glaring at the doctor.

"N-no... I-i won't accept it!"

"Learn to accept your fate--"  
  
"Apo-kun..." Zero said. They had a limit of time before Manic's and Kin's bodies would start to deteriorate due to their appearance.

"I know," Apollyon said as he turned his head towards Zero. Zero walked towards the doctor as Apollyon turned his head back towards him.

"Remember this day, Doc," Zero said coldly as he reloaded the two guns, "the day you were defeated by your past and future. Goodbye."

Suddenly, both Apollyon and Zero ran towards the doctor, but split up and attacked him from two sides. Wainwright tried to activate another barrier, but the two spirits were too fast for Wainwright. Apollyon had cut through Wainwright's torso while Zero had taken two shots from point blank range at Wainwright's heart and head. Both dead netbattlers stood on either side of the doctor, who fell into a dead heap a moment afterwards.

"Apo-kun," Zero said as he stood up and turned towards his friend, "...we should leave now. We did what we came to do."

Apollyon finished sheathing his sword and looked back to Zero. "Yes... but it's good to know our grandkids can still fight without PETs," Apollyon said with a smirk.

"Yeah..." Zero responded, with the same kind of smirk. Suddenly, the two bodies started to appear more like Manic and Kinzoku, rather than Zero and Apollyon.  
  
"Manic! Kin!" Miyuu and Ryuu yelled as they broke themselves free from the two tall men, who were suddenly regaining consciousness from their long slumber. They both ran towards Manic and Kinzoku, who were looking everywhere.

"Wh...what just happened, Kin?" Manic asked, putting a hand to his forehead.

"I don't... know..." Kinzoku responded, until he caught a glance of the fallen Dr. Wainwright, "...did we win?"

"I guess..."

"Daijobu ka?!" Ryuu asked as he and Miyuu hurried towards them.

"Ngh..." Manic said, trying to remember what happened, "What's going on, guys?"

"Yeah, what happened?" Kinzoku asked. Miyuu and Ryuu looked at each other with blank expressions.

"You mean... you don't know what happened?" Miyuu asked.

"No... could you fill us in, please?"

"Back at the hotel, we will," Ryuu responded as he looked towards the audience, "but right now... I think we better leave..."

The audience was dead silent. The only sounds were those of mumbling to one another about what they had just seen. Slowly and carefully, the four had walked towards the exit to the arena.

* * *

"Joseph!" Manic and Kinzoku said in unison as they saw their friend walking down from the stands.

"Hey, you know," Joseph started, "if you guys told me about THAT little trick, we might have beaten that guy instead! Why'd you hold out!?"

Manic and Kin looked at each other. "We didn't...hold out anything..."

Joseph merely looked at them, then walked past. "Yeah, yeah... good job, by the way," Joseph said with a grin.

* * *

Tournament Bracket:  
  
Electopian Branch: Team Deity  
  
Netopian Branch: Team World Three  
  
Northern Republic Branch: Team Ace  
  
Eurasian Branch: Team Ryusho

Notice:  
From here on, the Bandit's Cove Tournament will now take place in the sponsor's home country/province. Tomorrow, teams must be packed and ready to move to the Northern Republic Tournament Site. Thank you.

"Northern Republic?" Manic asked.

"Yeah, I heard it's really cold up there," Joseph said.

* * *

"Well, Wainwright won't be a thorn in our side any more, sir," a calm voice said.

"Yes, allowing us to take his work for ourselves. Our plan has just been advanced... how do you expect to win your fight tomorrow?"

"As carefully as I can, sir..." the calm voice said before leaving.

"...I hope I can trust you..."

* * *

"Miles, can you hear me?"

_Knux, what is it?_

"My team was kicked out early, so it's easier for me to work behind the scenes now."

_Good, because I planted the package in their room yesterday._

"Good, but... did you know it'd have that kind of power?"

_...what kind of power? All it does is give them extra speed and power..._

"..."

_Why do you ask?_

"...nothing. The tournament's headed to the Northern Republic now, so I'll have to go there alone. Stay sharp, I'll see you back in Electopia."

_Gotcha Klo...Knux...

* * *

_  
**_Hey, come back here, you little brat! You still have to pay for that!_**__

_I didn't steal anything! Honest!_

**_Then why are you runni--Hey, kid, look out!_**_  
  
What?! Umph!_

_...hey, are you ok? Let me help you up..._

_Huh? Th-thanks..._

_Hey, what's your name?_

_Me? I'm..._

_Apollyon! Got you!_

_Hey, let me go! I never got his name!_

_My name's Zero!_

**_Gotcha, kid!_**

****

_I'm Apollyon! I hope we meet again! Hey, let me go!_

_Yeah! See you later, Apo-kun!

* * *

_  
V2 ch. 17 finished. Please read and review. Also, if you have any questions about it, feel free to ask.


	28. V2 ch 18: Conflicting Evidence

A Note from the Author:  
  
If you've been keeping up with Manic Saga, I thank you, and if you like it, I thank you even more, but as many people know, I haven't put up, or typed up, chapters as often as I used to, and for that, I apologize. And, as I'm sure some of you are wondering, I have my side to it. Here we go.  
  
Lately, as I've told everyone, I've hit a writer's block, especially with these few chapters. However, after a long while of thinking, I now know that I didn't have writer's block so much as I have had something I've dubbed as 'writer's self-denial'. To elaborate on that, I've been wondering what my purpose was for writing, and why I even do it any more. I used to think of it as a hobby and as something I would do when I was bored one day or if I had an idea or something and I continued on it. However, now, it's just become dull and I have no inspiration or motivation to actually type anything up. It's been a downward spiral from then on, and I hated it. I didn't want to write anything again from then on because I just thought it'd be a waste of time.

Down the road, I thought I'd write stuff again for when I was bored in college and the like, but I never really got up the motivation to actually do anything of the like, mainly because I saw no purpose in what I was doing. However, when I went to English class today, I was handed a chapter from a book to read and reflect upon and come up with a thesis about it. The article was _Education and the Significance of Life, Chapter VI_ by J. Krishnamurti. I must have read the article about three or four times, each time picking out another idea about why I do what I do, and what every author does. Krishnamurti went on to describe how one educates another, and how one is enlightened through education, whether it be from a teacher in a set school, or merely by interaction with another person. One is always educated through experiences, and whether we choose to pass down that education so that others will grow, develop their minds from it and come up with their own original ideas and theories is our own. I thought about this article for a while and thought to myself, 'This is what I want to do. This is what I've been doing for a long time and I didn't even know it.' After a while of thinking, I finally found my purpose for writing. It's my way of spreading ideas into the world, it's my response to an insane world, and I found out that I'd rather be doing this than most anything in this world. So, without further ado, it is my priviledge, honor and pleasure to present to you Volume 2, Chapter 18 of Battle Network Cybersystem: The Manic Saga.

Manic

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga  
  
Volume 2: Pokerface  
  
Chapter 18: Conflicting Evidence

Manic, Joseph, Kinzoku, Ryuu and Miyuu were walking down the steps to the hotel lobby, carrying their bags and such. They had said their goodbyes to Jet, Derek and Taichi late last night, so they wouldn't be seen heading back to Electopia, with someone who said was sent by Klove to make sure they weren't found by any tournament officials still alive.

Joseph yawned as he found the final step down with his foot, "Why do we have to be up this early in the morning, I haven't even had breakfast yet..."  
  
Ryuu was silently wondering the same thing. Why had they been awoken so early in the morning? The tournament semi-finals weren't starting until later in the day. Were they actually that far away from the Northern Republic?  
  
_I assume they want us exhausted for the next two fights, _Gaius said to Ryuu mentally.

_Sou... _Ryuu responded in his native language, _It would make sense, seeing as there are some people who want us dead..._

All of them had the same feeling Ryuu did, someone was out to get them and they were supposed to be dead by now. However, because they were underestimated, and since they wanted the crowd to pay more for the fights, they needed to keep them alive, but barely.

"Well, I need to find something to eat..." Miyuu said as she placed her hands behind her head and walked forward to look around the room, but she didn't go very far until Yui had stopped her cold. A large man wearing a brown trenchcoat had walked past her from behind. However, it wasn't the size of the man that Yui noticed, but it was... something else...

_Yui, what's wrong? _Miyuu asked, stepping to the side as the man walked past.

Yui watched, concentrating on what was so special about the man, but then shook off the thought. _It's nothing... we should hurry, food can wait.  
_

Miyuu sighed and trudged towards the door, with the rest of the team following behind her.

Outside, there was an old man dressed in a formal tuxedo, waiting for the five Electopian fighters.

"Good day, sirs and madam," the formal man said with an unmoving face, "I am here to tell you the directions to the final fights." As if he were a mechanical figure, an arm raised up and pointed towards a mountain in the distance, covered with snow and rock, with a forest surrounding its base. "The last segment of the Bandit's Cove Tournament will take place inside the peak, an abandoned training facility used by Yumland Marine Corps. during the Northern Wars. However, be-be-because," the old man stuttered, as if what he was saying was a record skipping, "the war ended in a treaty joining the three warring nation-states into the Northern Republic. If any of your team is killed on the way, you will be disqualified, leading to all of you being e-e-execu-cu-cu-cuted upon sight. If, however, you make it to the top, you will be allowed to participate in the upcoming fight. Good luck."

After the old man said his last words, he staggered into the hotel, and the front doors slammed shut behind him. The five were still reeling in what he had told them. Someone did not want them to live, if that wasn't clear before, it certainly was now. Also, they had never been on a remote island, as they were led to believe by Klove. They were right in the middle of the Northern Republic itself, the sponsoring nation of the tournament. They had to be more careful than before, they were on someone's home ground, not an unknown field. One careless moment in the forest could mean death by a trap of some kind, and the five fighters knew that they wouldn't play fair any more.

Kinzoku let out a quiet sigh and walked forward, shoving the sheath of his sword underneath his obi(belt on a kendo/samurai uniform), "We should go, before we're late for our match." They all agreed with him and began to walk towards the forest guarding the base of the icy mountain.

The walk towards the opening to the forest wasn't a long one, though. However, they didn't stop walking, and walked through the low-hanging trees and brush around them.

"Man, there's a lot of stuff in here..." Joseph said as he smacked a stray branch away from his chest to move forward. However, the other four were making their way through the brush easily. Undoubtedly, Joseph thought to himself, they were talking to the deities mentally.

_I wish I had a deity... _Joseph thought to himself, _I wouldn't be left out of the loop like that... this sucks... they even get cool powers when in cyberspace..._

Joseph stopped moving when he hit that idea. Going through brush and shrubs in real life was a pain, but in the cyberworld, he could just hack them away with his various sword datasilver, especially the flame elemental ones. It would make their journey much faster.

"Hey guys, try putting on your cyberbands!" Joseph yelled to the others, "We might be able to save some time getting there!"

"That's a thought..." Kinzoku said as he sheathed his blade again, "I wouldn't have to sharpen this again by the time we got there..."

_I'm not too sure about this..._ Infernos said to Manic.

_Why not? It would make us go faster through this forest, _Manic retorted.

However, Kinzoku and Joseph already had their cyberbands ready and strapped them on.

"Gah!"

"Gyaa!"  
  
Both Kinzoku and Joseph yelled in pain as they dropped to the ground, surging with electrical energy, and both disappearing into the cyberworld. All that remained of them were their shadows on the ground.  
  
"Damn!" Ryuu cursed as he saw them disappear.

_It seems that it was a trap for us, _Gaius said mentally, _Luckily, we all didn't do that._

_S-sore demo..._ Ryuu exclaimed mentally, but was interrupted by Infernos.

_They'll be fine, they can make their way out of there and get to the tourney in time, but we need to keep going. Just have faith in them, kid, _Infernos replied.

"...yes..." Ryuu said as he, Manic and Miyuu kept walking forward.

"Besides, they strapped on those things of their own free will," Infernos said through Manic's voice, relaxed, "It's not like we found a trap or anything..." As Infernos said this, the ground under his and Miyuu's feet started to cave in around them. Ryuu looked behind him at the two netbattlers and saw them plummet through the ground, sounds of iron scraping against one another and leaves crunching under feet.

"Manic-san! Miyuu-san!" Ryuu yelled as he looked over the side and into where the two had fallen.

Manic was dazed, but tried his best to pick himself up and regain his senses. He then looked around the place, then up towards where sunlight was protruding.

"Are you two ok?" Ryuu asked, hoping they would hear him.

"Ngh... yeah, we're ok," Manic said as he stood up from the ground. A shard of metal had managed to cut his arm, but he ignored the pain and saw that Miyuu wasn't severely hurt from the drop either.

"I'll find something to help you guys out," Ryuu yelled to the two, but was stopped by Manic's voice.

"No, it'll take too long, Ryuu," Manic yelled back up the open chamber, "Go ahead of us and be as careful as you can. We'll find a way out."  
  
Ryuu hesitated for a few seconds before he stood up and resumed the journey to the mountain. Manic sighed and looked over to Miyuu, "Are you hurt anywhere?"  
  
Miyuu flicked some leaves from her hair before she stood up, "I'm fine, it wasn't too bad a drop." She looked up to where they fell from. She had to squint her eyes because of the light, but they had fallen at least fifteen feet into the ground. It also looked like there was some sort of man-made hallway that had been eroded through. "We should try to find a way out from here, because it might take a while to get out from that hole."  
  
"You're right," Manic responded as he shielded his eyes from the sunlight above. The place they were in was pitch black and the light sharply contrasted that. However, after a moment, Manic's eyes readjusted to the darkness and saw that the hallway they fell into lead further towards the mountain. "How about going that way?"  
  
Miyuu shrugged, "Do we have any other choice?"  
  
"Guess not," Manic said and the two walked into the darkness.

* * *

"I think we're lost," Joseph said as he and Kinzoku walked through the Northern Republic's cybersystem. It was completely opposite from the forest they had been it, the entire internet was barren, with no sign of life.  
  
"Hmm..." Kinzoku wondered, "Well, I guess the best thing we could do now is to walk the way we were walking in the real world..."  
  
"Yeah, I guess... I'm sure they'll understand that two members of Team Deity will be fighting from cyberspace..." Joseph responded sarcastically, but without any emphasis.  
  
Kin and Joseph didn't have to walk for very long until they came across a rectangular tower that stood twice as tall as either Kinzoku or Joseph, ridden with flowing data currents and several clear buttons.  
  
"...what is that?" Joseph asked. Kinzoku wondered the same thing as they both stepped over to it.  
  
"I've never seen anything like it..." Kinzoku responded as he slowly put a hand to it, being cautious about anything that may come from it. Once Kinzoku touched it, however, a screen appeared in mid-air before him, that showed what appeared to be a control room.  
  
"What the..."Kinzoku asked as he took a step backwards. However, Joseph already knew what it was.

"Wow, this is some pretty advanced technology," Joseph said as he looked at it with admiration.

"Well, what is it?" Kinzoku asked.

"It's a synchronized telecommunication pathway," Joseph said, then stopped himself, "What it is is a broadcasted link between the real world and cyberspace, so we can see people in the real world and they can see us."

"Really..." Kinzoku said as he took a closer look at the monitor, "Why doesn't ONBA have any of these, I wonder... Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that ONBA uses one for experimental datasilver and other stuff in the net," Joseph said, "but having just one of these is really, really expensive. I'm surprised there was one even here, but... why is the control room empty?"  
  
"And why isn't anyone else here doing experiments?" Kinzoku asked, "This seems like it's too expensive to leave unmonitored, from both real world and here."

"Well, this could explain why we had trouble getting to here in the first place," Joseph said, reminded of the painful shocks going through his body when he put on his cyberband. However, Joseph caught something else from the corner of his eye. It had been placed somewhat behind the monitor from their viewpoint, but now he realized it. It was another monitor, the exact same as the one before them, but it was facing a different way and much farther away. And another one to the right of that. And another one directly opposite to that one. Each of them were facing four directions of the internet, which struck Joseph as odd.  
  
"This is too weird..." Joseph said quietly as he looked at the three other monitors.  
  
"What seems weird about them? Having one for each direction in an open net seems fairly reasonable..." Kinzoku said.

"Yeah, but..." Joseph stammered, "These are omni-directional... why would they need four of them?"

"Shh..." Kinzoku said to Joseph quietly as he squinted his eyes to see into the distance. He was sure he saw something over there.  
  
"What?" Joseph asked. Kinzoku only motioned for Joseph to follow him as he walked towards what he saw further on.

* * *

Manic and Miyuu walked through the cold, dark hallway, their hands running along the walls.  
  
"How long does this go for?" Miyuu asked herself as they walked. However, her question was answered, as her hand felt a corner along the wall, halting their progress.  
  
"Great," Manic said as he felt the wall too. He ran his hand across the wall barring their way, but found a crack a meter away from the side wall, then ran his hand past it and found another crack a couple of feet from that.  
  
"Could be a door," Manic said as he moved his hand across the wall, "Try to find some kind of doorknob or something..."  
  
"You mean this?" Miyuu asked skeptically as she held up a broken handle to the door from the ground next to her foot. Manic looked at it for a second, then tossed it behind him.

"Plan B, then," Manic said.

The door burst open to reveal Manic's shoulder and Miyuu behind him. They walked into the area. If the hallway they walked through had been considered somewhat modern, this new room would be considered very futuristic. Fluorescent lights flooded the large room and revealed a large computer console running the length of the room wall. Keyboards and four monitors lined the console, along with other things.

"What is this place?" Miyuu asked as they both looked around the room. As they were looking, the first monitor on the console lit up with the image of Kinzoku and Joseph looking at it.

_Hello? Is anyone there? _Kin asked as he looked at the monitor with a curious look on his face.  
  
"Hey, it's Kin," Manic said as he strode towards the monitor displaying his face, "Hey, Kin, can you hear me? Kin!"

Kinzoku had moved away from the monitor, unaware of Manic's words. Manic sighed.

"Guess we know they're here..." Miyuu said.  
  
"Yeah..." Manic responded as he lowered his head to look at the console. He caught the phrase "Release Internet Security Disperse Lock 1" on the console, next to a switch and a keyboard.

"Hey, check this out," Manic said to Miyuu and waved her over. Miyuu started to walk over, but both Infernos and Yui noticed something. Something didn't feel right in that room. Miyuu looked at what Manic pointed to.

"Hmm..." Miyuu wondered, as her hand hovered over the button, "Maybe it'll help those two out?"  
  
"Yeah, let's give it a shot," Manic said as he reached for the button.

_Stop, _Infernos barked. Manic drew his hand back.

_What's wrong?_

Infernos definitely felt it. Yui did as well. They would never forget that feeling. The feeling that death was close at hand, even for a deity. It always came accompanied by a certain thing, a certain monstrosity.

_Get out of this room, now! _Infernos barked again, but it was too late. From the shadows came a low growl, then the sound of a large jaw opening and closing shut. Manic and Miyuu looked towards the shadowed corner of the room to see what was there. Slowly, it stepped from the shadow. It was a large canine-like beast, bearing its sharp teeth and blood red eyes. Its skin was a dull tan, and it was on all fours, but it was at the same height as Manic, and much more muscular. Manic sensed something about Infernos now, something that he never expected to sense from him.  
  
Fear.

* * *

Ryuu walked through the forest alone. The forest was eerily quiet, Ryuu noticed, not a single shred of life anywhere but himself and the plant life surrounding him.

"I hope they all make it out safely..." Ryuu said as he walked between the trees.

_They'll be fine, _Gaius said, _Infernos is a rabid dog while Yui is the mutt's owner, those two will be fine..._

Ryuu couldn't help but chuckle out loud at this. Infernos, the most independent of the deities, completely whipped.

_And Naoko's scary when fighting, even when we're just sparring... _Gaius continued. Ryuu now laughed out loud at the thoughts. The deities may have been serious about many things, but they had senses of self, just like any other living being.

"What's so funny?" a voice said from high up on a tree. Ryuu stopped and looked up to see where the voice came from, startled.  
  
"Who's there?" Ryuu yelled towards the voice.

High up in a tree, there was a tall, skinny figure sitting on a branch, looking into a small handheld device. He looked down towards Ryuu and both he and Gaius took a step backwards.

"A-anata!" Ryuu exclaimed at the man, who had a puzzled look on his face.  
  
"Come again?"  
  
"You! You were the one at the ball!" Ryuu yelled back.

"Ah, now I remember you, you guys killed Deuce," Jack said with a grin as Ryuu winced at the word 'killed', "come to think of it, I don't see the rest of your merry band of misfits... where are they?"  
  
"S-sore wa himitsu desu!" Ryuu yelled at the man, who once again had a confused look on his face.

"You know, I think that if you're in the country," the man said as he hopped from the branch he was sitting on and landed in a kneel on the ground, "you should speak the language more often."

"Kaisamana, Jack!" Gaius exclaimed at the man through Ryuu's now-deepened voice.

"Hey, hey, no need to get riled up, man," Jack said as he brushed some dust off his jeans, "I didn't get any orders to kill you just yet, besides, I was going to tell you what was going on anyways, chill..."  
  
Ryuu wondered what Gaius had said to Jack, but more importantly, how did Jack understand what Gaius said?

The Jack snickered at Ryuu's puzzled look, "Looks like your friend doesn't get it all yet, let me fill in a few gaps for you..."

Gaius let out a low growl as the Jack spoke. However, Ryuu ignored this. "How do you know all this? Why are you fighting us?"  
  
The Jack laughed. "Kid, I don't blame you for not knowing about us and our bitter rivalry, so I'll start with that. Pay attention."

Gaius was still on edge while Jack spoke, same as Ryuu, but Ryuu was a little calmer.

"Ok, it all started long long ago, probably somewhere in the medieval times, but I'm not sure about that, never paid the old guy any full attention. Anyways, apparently your pal deity was around since the dawn of time, even before then. However, instead of being only six of you, there are twelve, six in each plane of existance."

"...plane of existance? What do you mean?" Ryuu asked, standing up straighter.

"Well, there's the material plane, which we're in," the Jack explained, "and there's a parallel plane of existance, the spiritual plane we've dubbed it. When someone from here dies, they get born into the spiritual plane, and when someone dies in the spiritual plane, they get born over here, the cycle goes on, blah blah blah, we have life and death."  
  
Ryuu thought about this. Did this mean that no one completely dies? That there really was a life past death here?  
  
"Yo, kid, you still with me?" Jack said, snapping Ryuu from his train of thought. "Good, because this is the trip. Your friend over there and his friends decided to have a war one day and in the middle of it, they decided to have plenty of these, probably because they have no lives and they're bored as Hell, but whatever. Anyways, because of these wars, countless victims were taken and, because our first assumption about people being born in the spiritual plane when they die here was wrong, we got the short end of the stick. Countless lives were lost, and because your 'friend' over there neglected to tell us a pretty important detail, they can never come back."  
  
Ryuu took the entire explanation in and thought about it. There were too many questions flowing through his mind, but he wanted to ask the most obvious one now.

"What detail was that?" Ryuu asked. Gaius was silent.

The Jack now looked at Ryuu with a deadly serious look, "That whoever was killed by a deity, would never be reborn."  
  
_Gaius,_ Ryuu asked sternly, _is this true?_

_...  
  
Did you kill all those people!? _Ryuu exclaimed mentally at Gaius.

"Heh, pathetic," the Jack said with a smirk as he started to walk away, "I wouldn't trust that slimy mongrel if I were you, kid..."  
  
"Ma-mate!" Ryuu exclaimed. Jack turned around and winced.

_Kakoune shemaiano!_

"What did I just say about the language?" Jack said, a menacing look in his eye.  
  
"G-gom...sorry..." Ryuu said, "but why are you trying to kill us?"

The Jack sighed, "Are you still trying to defend him? We're trying to kill him, not you brats! Tch, I'm outta here, I'll see you guys up there..." He walked out of Ryuu's range of sight, through the dense forest. However, Ryuu was still wondering what was going on.

_Gaius... _Ryuu said, _is what he said true?_

Gaius remained silent for a moment, then spoke. _Yes... the six of us had killed people in those times..._

_Why!? _Ryuu yelled at Gaius mentally, _What justifies the death of another!?_

Gaius sighed, but Ryuu could sense a feeling of calmness and happiness from him, which irritated him. _What Jack told you was only half true. Yes, we killed people, and yes, they aren't coming back. However, he didn't tell you the entire truth..._

_Then what is the entire truth? _Ryuu asked.

_...only Infernos and one other know the whole story. Each of us only know fragments..._

_Why do you only know a fragment of the entire story?_

Gaius sighed, but answered Ryuu promptly, _Once we win this tournament, we'll tell you all. I promise._

Ryuu sighed, but started to walk forward. _Ok..._

* * *

"Are you sure you saw something over here?" Joseph asked as they walked forward, not seeing any signs of a presence anywhere.

"Hmm... maybe my eyes were playing tricks..." Kinzoku said to reassure Joseph, but he felt something here, but it didn't feel like someone living.

Joseph scoffed, "This is pointless," he started turning around, but kept his eyes on Kin, "I'm going back to check on those towers..."

"Wait," Kin ordered. Joseph stopped in his tracks and looked towards Kin. Kin saw something move from the corner of his eye, definitely.

"Come on, there's nothing here," Joseph said again as he slowly turned around, "don't worry about it, we can take whatever they WOAH!" Joseph barely ducked under a cutting swipe from a blackened form that rushed towards him. He quickly dodged its other attacks, but just barely.

Kinzoku watched Joseph fight off the lanky humanoid enemy, but then turned to his left to attack an oncoming one head-on with a Holy Sword. The humanoid figure quickly parried the sword away, but Kin still cut at it, not giving up.

"Egh," Joseph muttered as he dodged several swipes from the blackened form, becoming severely agitated. Finally, Joseph brought out a Fighter Sword datasilver to combat the form's vertical strike. While he was holding the block, Joseph had a clearer look at what was attacking him. It was pure black, but it moved hunched over, like a tiger stalking its prey. It was pure black and had curved blades where its hands should have been. The most distinguishable feature was the narrow strip of blood red across its blackened eyes, shielding them. Joseph managed to swing the beast away, only to find it crouched and ready to strike again.

"Oh great... Kin, you okay?" Joseph yelled behind him.

"Doing...fine..." Kin muttered as he tried his best to hold off the fighter. He was fast and powerful, a very lethal combination, but Kin was holding his ground.

"Good to he--ack!" Joseph yelled as the beast fighting him had managed to tackle him to the ground, struggling to get up.

"Joseph!" Kin shouted as he kept the second one at bay. He growled at the beast, then quickly smashed the Holy Sword into its blade hands, knocking it away from him.

"I've had it with these things," Kinzoku said to himself.

_You ready, Naoko?_

_You bet, _Naoko responded to Kin mentally.

"Don't stare into the light," Kinzoku said with a smirk as he brought his hands up to his chest in a standing meditation stance. Light flooded around him, but dissipated as quickly as it came, leaving Kinzoku/Naoko standing, robed in the white garment that he wore over his black, loose-fitting pants, carrying his rendition of the Sol Maxim, the Light Naginata, under his right arm.

"So," Kin/Naoko said in a perfectly integrated voice, "You think you can take on a deity?"

The form responded with a leap towards him. Kin/Naoko smirked and quickly ran through it with the Light Naginata. He stood on the other side of the fallen form and turned around to look at it for a moment. However, instead of disappearing into data streams, it remained there. Kin/Naoko walked closer to look at it and make sure it really was dead. He crouched down and looked at it for a second. Kin/Naoko's attack didn't miss, but the foe wasn't disappearing.  
  
"Hmm..." Kin/Naoko said in thought, but then was quickly interrupted by Joseph's yelling as he was struggling against the beast.

"Ngh!" Joseph grunted as he tried his best to shove off the monster, but the form was too strong for him to defend against. However, Joseph's struggling lessened as he watched it bring it's blade arm up, ready to strike into Joseph.

But the arm was quickly cut off, along with its head. It fell into a heap in front of Joseph's feet. He quickly picked himself up and backed away from the fallen fighter.

"What...was that?" Joseph asked himself as he looked to who cut through it, and saw Kin/Naoko barely floating above the ground, back turned towards the fallen foe. Joseph looked with admiration.

"Awesome..." was all Joseph could say at that point, but then watched as Kinzoku reverted to his normal self.

"Are you ok?" Kin asked Joseph, legs planted on the ground now.

"Y-yeah..." Joseph said, still amazed by the integration between Kinzoku and Naoko.  
  
"That's good," Kinzoku responded with a slight smile, then continued to walk towards the way they did, "We should try to find a way out of here as fast as we can..."

"Yeah..." Joseph responded and the two walked forward.

"Hey, I have a question..." Joseph said to Kin.

"Yeah, what is it?" Kin asked politely.

"Well..." Joseph started, "I was wondering... what does it feel like to be integrated?"

Kinzoku wondered about this as well. "Hmm... I don't know, I can't really describe it...but it kinda feels like I'm me, but with someone else..."

"Hmm..." Joseph thought, "Sounds kinda...erm..."

"That's how it feels?" a voice asked. Joseph and Kin stopped and went into defensive stances, ready for an attack.

"Who's there?" Kinzoku called out. The voice seemed all too familiar, though.

"Wait..." Joseph said as he stood up straighter to see. Two people were walking towards them, one shorter than the other. Finally, the two came into view, and Joseph took a step backwards.

It was Klove, and a kid was with him.

"Why are you here!? Didn't you leave with the others?" Joseph asked in surprise. Klove merely glared at the two, while the blonde-haired kid just waved awkwardly.

"We'll explain later," Klove said abruptly, "But for right now, trust us as being the good guys. After this tournament, you can question us all you want." Klove then immediately turned around and walked away, while the blonde-haired kid followed him.

"Hey, Knux, shouldn't you have expanded on that for them a little?" the kid asked.

Kinzoku and Joseph stood watching them, but then started walking towards them, as well.

* * *

"How far are you!?" Manic yelled towards Miyuu while he was busy fending off the giant beast as best he could.

"Give me some more time!" Miyuu shouted back as she was trying to figure out the controls for releasing the internet security lock, to get Joseph and Kinzoku free.

_This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening..._ Infernos kept repeating within Manic's head, making him even more irritated.

_Will you shut up and help out!? _Manic yelled back, but quickly ducked under the beast's ferocious leap.

"Almost done," Miyuu said as she was typing in characters to get the lock off.

"Good," Manic replied as he stood up and faced down the beast. He clicked the safety off his long-barreled gun and waited for it to attack again.

_Bad idea..._ Infernos said.

_Only idea I have right now... _Manic replied. The beast made its move finally and leaped towards Manic again. However, Manic quickly drew his gun and fired at the beast.

However, the beast kept coming towards him, as if the bullet did nothing to it.

"Wha?!" Manic gasped, but quickly dodged to the side, leaving the gun to be chewed up by the beast. It bared its sharp teeth after it shred the gun into pieces.

"How far are you, Miyuu?" Manic asked nervously.

Miyuu put in a few more keystrokes and slammed on the enter button.

_Lock Removed_

"Done!" Miyuu yelled. Both of them quickly sprinted towards the opposite end of the room from where they came from. Miyuu's hand brushed against a door handle just when the beast was about to pounce again.

"Manic, in here!" Miyuu said forcefully as she swung the door open and ran through, Manic tailing her and slamming the door shut behind him. Behind the closed door was the sound of metal being scraped against and tearing up.

Manic breathed a sigh of relief, "That was close..."

"Hey, look," Miyuu said as she pointed down the dark hallway. At the end, though, light broke through. Manic squinted his eyes to see down further.

"Good," Manic said simply before breaking into a light jog, "we better hurry up."  
  
"Yeah," Miyuu responded as both of them went towards the light.

* * *

"Yosh," Ryuu said to himself as he finally saw the base of the whitened mountain. However, he didn't see anyone there, other than himself.

"Where's everyone else?" Ryuu asked himself nervously.

"Right behind you," Manic said as Ryuu turned around to see who said that. He and Miyuu walked out from a small cavern and towards Ryuu.

"Glad you're safe," Ryuu said with a smile.

"Same here," Manic responded.

"The internet lock's off, so where are Kin and Joseph?" Miyuu asked as they looked around the area.

"Well, we picked up some unexpected company," Joseph said as he and Kin took off their Cyberbands and put them away, followed by Klove and his friend.

"Klove?" Ryuu, Miyuu and Manic asked in surprise.

"I'll explain everything later," Klove said, "but call me Knux. This is Miles, he's here for the same reason I am."  
  
"K-konnichiwa, minna-san," Miles said with a smile.  
  
"Well, now that we're all here," Manic said as he turned towards the base of the mountain, "we better not keep our hosts waiting..."

"Yeah, I've been waiting to finish all of this and just go home," Joseph said with a proud smile.  
  
"Then we'd better hurry," Knux said as he walked towards the mountain, "Nightfall here isn't pleasant."

* * *

Well, that's the end of V2 chapter 18. As a little bit of side info, this chapter took me about 12 hours to write up, segmented. Hell, I even used a white board to plan out the main spots in this chapter, along with the later chapters. Hope you enjoyed it, please send comments and the like, if you wish, thank you 


	29. V2 ch 19: SemiFinal Showdown

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 19: Semi-Final Showdown

"Hurry up," Knux yelled behind him as he and Miles were scaling the icy mountain faster than the other five. The others remained silent as he yelled to them, half because they were too irritated with him to respond, and half because they knew he was right. If they didn't make it to the top of the mountain soon, they would be disqualified, and they knew what disqualification really was.

As they were climbing, Manic, Joseph, Ryuu, Kinzoku and Miyuu were still contemplating what they had just been through. There were too many questions brought up here and not enough answers for them. This fight coming up wasn't a fight for survival to them any more. It was a fight to find out what was going on.

"Almost there..." Ryuu said as he could see the top of the mountain from where he stood. _Gaius, why won't you tell us now?_ Ryuu asked the deity.

_We're climbing right now, we don't want to risk anyone falling off..._

_...what does that mean? _Ryuu stammered as he kept climbing.

_It might be a little..._ Gaius paused for a moment, trying to find the correct word for what he was about to say, _...odd._

Just before Ryuu could ask Gaius another question, he heard a loud mechanism door sliding open in the mountain, only a few meters above the five.

"Made it," Manic said with a sigh as he quickly leapt up the mountain towards the open door, followed by the other four making their way to it. After a moment, the five fighters, along with Knux and Miles, stood in a dark hallway, its walls coated with metal and leading to a well-lit area further in.

"This is where the finals will take place," Knux said as he walked down the hallway, expecting the other five in tow, "People from all around the world enter this tournament when they are on their last act of desperation."

"What do you mean?" Kinzoku asked, wondering why this tournament was around.

"Anyone who joins this tournament and loses is killed," Knux replied without turning his head, "but the group who wins this tournament will be promised the one thing that is greater than riches." Knux winced at that, but barely let it show. The deities could sense it, though, and they knew why.

"The one thing greater than riches? What's that?" Joseph asked, wondering what there could possibly be greater to a thief than gold.

With a breath inward, Knux replied, "Power beyond their wildest dreams."

Finally, the group entered the arena they were to fight in. It appeared to be similar to the one they had fought at before, but it seemed that there wasn't a crowd to fill the stands. No one was even there, except for them. The only indication they had that they were to fight was a sign with the current roster on it:

Semi-Finals:  
TEAM DEITY  
vs.  
TEAM WORLD THREE

With a sigh, the five fighters stepped towards the fighting platform, expecting to have a good fight with their next rivals. They all knew that World Three had been eradicated once before, but were the people they were about to fight just using the name itself, or did they really resurrect the crime syndicate?

"Hold on," Knux stated to the group as he leapt onto the arena floor and walked to the center.

"What's he doing?" Manic asked, but was stopped by a hand from Miles.

Knux stood in the center of the arena and looked up, as if he were expecting something to happen immediately, but it wasn't happening fast enough. Suddenly, a bodiless voice called to Knux.

_Why are you interfering with the competition now?_

"I want a change to the rules for this match," Knux said to the bodiless voice. The arena went silent for a moment. The fighters were standing still, as if tension and anxeity had taken them over.

_...very well._

Knux nodded. "I request this next match be one-on-one, and that will decide the final." Another moment's pause.

_...accepted._

With a sigh, Knux stepped off the platform and cracked his neck. "Kinzoku, you'll want this fight to yourself," Knux replied as he sat down and leaned against the raised concrete platform.

"Huh?" Manic and Joseph asked as they looked towards both Knux and Kinzoku, "Kin, what does he mean?"

Looking forward and past the stage, Kinzoku grinned, "Thanks." With that, Kin quickly leapt onto the stage and stood still, waiting for his opponent. Soon, a single man came from the opposite end of the arena, still shadowed by the dark hallway he came from. Then, within a moment's time, the man appeared on his end of the stage, a clean, brown business suit covering his body. He was easily half a foot taller than Kinzoku, but that didn't seem to phase him.

Suddenly, Manic realized who the man was. He had seen him at the diner that day he had first moved into town. He was in World Three?

"Been a long time, Kin," the man said with a smirk, "You ready for a rematch?"

Kinzoku merely grinned, "Let's see if you've really improved, then."

Instantly, both of them vanished, their bodies and attacks moving quicker than the eye could see. After a moment, Kinzoku slid back across the stage, kneeling down with his sword drawn, and the other man standing on the opposite end of the stage. "Didn't expect that, eh?"

"Heh," Kin grinned as he stood up, "You took my advice about speed a little seriously, GC?"

"Only to take out a traitor like you!" GC barked at the swordsman, ready to fight once again.

* * *

_"Gah!" GC yelled as he was shoved back again by Kinzoku's attack._

_"Heh, you're not going to get anywhere in a fight if you aren't fast enough to dodge an attack," Kinzoku smirked._

_"Damn!" GC yelled as he pounded the ground, his eyes starting to tear up. He couldn't bring himself to dodging an attack in time from Kinzoku, but he knew he needed to. He needed to get faster than him, and he would practice every day until he did._

_"Hey," Kin said as he offered his hand to GC, "we better get to the town banket if we want to get some food."_

_GC grinned, "You still say banquet wrong, you know?" The youth took the hand and pulled himself up from the ground. Neither of them were past four feet tall, but they were still the tallest kids in the village, with Kinzoku only an inch taller than him. With that, they hurried to the banquet to get some food._

_

* * *

_

"Damn you!" GC yelled as he quickly laid a hard fist into Kinzoku's abdomen, causing the swordsman to gasp for air. However, before GC could take his fist away, Kin grabbed onto it with his left hand.

"Don't leave yourself open," Kin said with a grin as he kicked forward into GC, hitting the World Three leader in the abdomen before letting him go to slice forward with his sword. It seemed that GC was too fast even for that, though, as he quickly backflipped away from the sword slice and returned to his attacks.

* * *

_"So you're leaving?" GC asked Kin as he leaned against the side of his house. He had known him all his life, and they were both the best hunters and fighters in the village now._

_"Yeah..." Kin replied sullenly, a part of him not wanting to leave home. However, he had already decided that, after last night, he would go around the world to get stronger, to make himself a better fighter. There was only so much he could do in this village to improve himself._

_"...I'm sorry about your parents, they still haven't found them..." GC said as he hung his head down. Kin tied the last knot on his bag when he stopped and sighed._

_"Hey," Kinzoku said as he reached his hand out towards GC, "Whatever happens, we'll always get stronger and fight for the greater good." GC looked up at Kin and smiled._

_GC's hand connected with Kin's firmly, "Always."_

* * *

_Damn, he really did get better,_ Kin said to himself as he quickly parried GC's steel yo-yo, knowing full well that he was lethal with it. With a low growl, Kinzoku quickly leapt towards GC and cut forward, a slice appearing on GC's suit jacket.

"You got better, I'll give you that, traitor," GC said as he instantly appeared behind Kin and sent a hard elbow into the back of his neck, causing Kin to slide across the arena floor.

"Why..." Kin said as he slowly picked himself up from the concrete.

"What?"

"Why... are you calling me a traitor?"

"...you're sided with them, I heard about the story..." GC replied, knowing well that the deities were the enemies. They cared nothing for human life, they were savages.

* * *

_GC's eyes widened in pure shock as he found his village in the center of utter turmoil. Thousands of people were fighting as hard as they could against each other, with three of the people there tearing through soldiers left and right, knocking them around._

_"S-STOP IT!" GC yelled as he rushed into the fray, only to get knocked away by a hard stray blow from the side of a broadsword. GC was out cold when he hit the ground._

_By the time he woke up, the village was destroyed. Corpses lined the field as fires burned the smoldering ashes of his home, along with many others. Whoever had done this was going to pay dearly. They had come to his village and destroyed his life completely. Now, he was all alone._

_GC was cloaked by a tattered robe he had found, sitting against a wall in a city he had walked to. Starving and on the edge of death, GC looked up and saw a man dressed in a lavish suit, his hair as if it were on fire._

_"Come with me," GC heard the man say._

_Years afterwards, GC was now the right hand man of a man known only as Zennith, the current head of the World Three Syndicate. He had seen a poor man thrown to his knees only to see the man look up in fear at him. He had shared his pain once._

_"This man doesn't deserve to li--"_

_"He does," GC interrupted, as he knelt down to the man. Zennith, his age catching up with him, turned his head towards the man, his eyes sullen and relaxed. He trusted GC's actions fully. He was to be the next head of World Three._

* * *

"Story about what?" Kin barked to GC, wondering what he was talking about.

"About those deity bastards!" GC barked back, his anger rising exponentially, "They destroyed the village! They destroyed everything we had! THEY RUINED MY LIFE!"

"THEN START OVER!" Kin yelled back, angry and disappointed in what he was hearing. "Hate only breeds more hate! If you want to take revenge against someone who wronged you, then you aren't any better than them! Start over and make a real change to the world, that's the only way you can grow stronger!" GC stepped back from what Kin had yelled. He was right, in a strange manner. He had let anger run his actions ever since, and seeing his best friend on their side had sent him over.

"That...that man..." GC finally said after the long silence, "he...he's..."

However, before GC could say a word, he was lifted into the air, and a large metal spike had dug through his abdomen, blood spraying from the wound.

"GC!" Kin yelled, but was stopped by the man behind his best friend, as he held a hand out to stop the swordsman.

"Since when did you grow a conscience?" the man holding GC up by the metal spike asked. Every feature of him was covered in black, but the man was tall and slender, as if he were a ninja. The only part of him not black was a lock of silver hair coming from the front of his head and his blood red eyes. "You're of no more use to me..." The man threw GC forward and onto the concrete stage again, the spike dislodged from the World Three leader.

"GC!" a voice shouted from far away as several threads had broken around the remaining members of Team Deity. A man with short brown hair had started running towards the stage, only to be stopped by a throwing knife hitting him in the abdomen, stopping him in his tracks.

"Enkou!" GC managed to yell out, tired from the fighting and weak from the wound he received. Kinzoku gripped his sword tighter and glared at the man.

"Heh... no need to be angry," the man said as he instantly appeared behind Kinzoku with a kunai at his throat, "you can't beat me anyway." Instantly, Kinzoku was thrown towards Team Deity with five cuts around his neck, blood oozing from each of them. Manic glared towards the man as he stood there.

"Who are you?" Manic demanded of the man.

"They call me Ace," the man said quietly, "I believe you three have met and bested Deuce before, so it seems that I might have a bit of practice if all three of you come at me at once..." However, Ace looked down at Kinzoku. "...maybe not. Perhaps I just spoiled my fun with those..."

"You..." Manic growled as he quickly leapt onto the stage, clenching his fists. He had thrown the ninjato off him as he went on. This time, he was going to beat this guy, and without weapons. He would make him feel his anger.

"So, you want to fight me yourself, then?" Ace replied with a sigh. "Fine, fine, let's go."

* * *

Sorry about the long time for the chapter, but right now I'm currently doing another part of Manic Saga, in the sense that I'm going to be reworking everything and basically making a second telling of this story. I think what I'll do is finish this telling, then finish the second telling and post all of it up on The second telling will be different in some aspects than this telling, but it'll still cover the base parts of the plot. So, questions, comments, feedback in general is highly appreciated. 


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